10 PM: A quick update from our friends out West.

   Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin missed a third straight day of practice with a hamstring injury. The Cardinals will release their injury report on Friday, but I fully expect Boldin will be listed as questionable. Regardless, unless he's ruled out on Friday don't expect to know his status for Saturday night's game until about 90 minutes before kickoff when Arizona must submit their list of inactives.

   3:10 PM: The Carolina Panthers can't say they aren't getting any respect.

   BoDog.com, a high-profile and well respected gambling entertainment company, has installed the Panthers as the second-most likely team to win Super Bowl XLIII, behind only the New York Giants. BoDog is giving the Giants 13-to-4 odds to win their second straight Super Bowl, followed closely by the Panthers at 4-to-1.

   The rest of the field looks like this: Pittsburgh Steelers (17-to-4), Tennessee Titans (6-to-1), Philadelphia Eagles (6-to-1), Baltimore Ravens (15-to-2), San Diego Chargers (9-to-1) and Arizona Cardinals (20-to-1).

   Here's some other odds, coutesy of www.BoDogLife.com.

Divisional Playoff Game Odds  

Which Team will score the most points?

Carolina Panthers          5/2

New York Giants            4/1

Pittsburgh Steelers        4/1   

Arizona Cardinals           5/1

Philadelphia Eagles        5/1

Tennessee Titans           5/1

Baltimore Ravens           6/1

San Diego Chargers      6/1

Which Team will score the least points?

Baltimore Ravens          3/1

San Diego Chargers       7/2

Tennessee Titans           9/2

Arizona Cardinals           9/2

Philadelphia Eagles        5/1

Pittsburgh Steelers        5/1

New York Giants            11/2

Carolina Panthers         10/1

Who will record the most Passing Yards in the Divisional Playoffs (Playoff Week 2)?    

Kurt Warner (ARI)                      3/2

Donovan McNabb (PHI)               5/2

Jake Delhomme (CAR)               5/1

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT)             5/1

Philip Rivers (SDG)                    5/1

Eli Manning (NYG)                     10/1

Kerry Collins (TEN)                    15/1

Joe Flacco (BAL)                       15/1

Who will record the most Receiving Yards in the Divisional Playoffs (Playoff Week 2)?

Steve Smith (CAR)                     5/4

Larry Fitzgerald (ARI)                 7/4

Anquan Boldin (ARI)                   5/2

Derrick Mason (BAL)                  5/1

Hines Ward (PIT)                       5/1

Steve Breaston (ARI)                  5/1

Vincent Jackson (SDG)              6/1

Domenik Hixon (NYG)                10/1

Muhsin Muhammad (CAR)          10/1

Santonio Holmes (PIT)                10/1

Antonio Gates (SDG)                 15/1

Kevin Curtis (PHI)                       20/1

Mark Clayton (BAL)                    20/1

Justin Gage (TEN)                      25/1

   1:40 PM: Wait until you get a load of  the Bank of America Stadium field Saturday night.

   The groundscrew has done an outstanding job of painting the end zone black with "Carolina" on one side and "Panthers" on the other painted in blue. It looks really sharp. It's something the Panthers only do for playoff games, so we haven't seen this since the Panthers last hosted a postseason game against Dallas.

   Some of you may ask why they don't do it more often.

   The reason is the black paint kills the grass. At this point in the season, the Panthers  don't mind with only one (or at the very most two) home games remaining. 

   1 P.M.: On the injury front, guard Geoff Hangartner returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday., meaning he has a chance to play this week. Everyone else had full participation in practice, including offensive tackle Jeff Otah and defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis.

   12:55 PM: By the way, some of you may have noticed a certain "national award" has disappeared from this blog. That's because the information was released a little early by said organization. It wasn't a typo of any kind. Expect the "official" announcement on Friday.

   10 AM: The Carolina Panthers are in the playoffs, and that's a good thing.

   The bad thing is that the more the Panthers play, the more we'll hear about Steve Smith throwing a few punches at Ken Lucas at training camp. It's the obvious story for a national media ready to feast on a "new" story, but it's one that has been covered to the point of exhaustion. I know I'm sure tired of it. And, in my opinion, it's beyond old news -- and if you ask any player on the team they'll tell you the same thing.

   Any story you read on the subject (and there will be dozens if the Panthers make the Super Bowl) will read something like this:

   Smith punches Lucas (the explanation being Smith thought Lucas didn't like/respect him, and vice versa). Lucas breaks nose. Smith apologizes. Lucas forgives Smith. Lucas and Smith make up. Team holds private players-only meeting to clear the air. Lucas dubbed a hero. Because of the fight, the Panthers become "closer as a team." (And, of course, the inference will be that is why the Panthers made the playoffs. It will have nothing to do with the fact they're kicking the you-know-what out of people up front on the offensive line and DeAngelo Williams is playing like Jim Brown).

   Anyway, there it is, nice and tidy -- just like we wrote about here THREE MONTHS AGO!

   Am I right?

   So, my vow to you, our readers, is that from this point forward I won't make you suffer through another Smith-Lucas training camp fight story unless someone makes me write it (you know, like someone who signs my paycheck). Sound like a deal to you?