Regardless of how you feel about the final moments of Carolina’s win over New England on Monday night, there is little question that this Panthers team is good. They feature a physical defensive front and a quarterback who can manipulate defenses in a variety of ways.

They will enter Miami a 4/4.5 point favorite on Sunday, and they should prove to be a formidable opponent given the circus-like environment that Miami’s headquarters have become in recent weeks.

Playing the game against San Diego had to be, in a way, therapeutic for a Dolphins team that has to come to work everyday while dreading the media’s presence within their building. This game could also serve as another interesting opportunity for them as they get to square off against a Carolina team that they will have some matchup advantages against.

For starters, Miami’s offense has some match-ups advantages in this game. While their performances have been up and down, Ryan Tannehill and company have shown they can throw the ball down the field. Carolina does have an excellent front seven, but they have an overrated secondary that could struggle here given the way Tannehill and his young weapons are starting to gel.

Defensively, the Dolphins have an athletic group of pass rushers and also possess a corner in Brent Grimes who is the ultimate matchup for Steve Smith. Grimes is built in the same manner as Smith and also went up against him twice a year while in Atlanta. He is capable of keeping the Panthers’ big play option under wraps thanks to his shiftiness and strong lateral quickness, attributes that are huge when dealing with Smith. I also trust the Dolphins front seven to keep the Carolina ground game in check to a reasonable degree.

Carolina is at a situational disadvantage to some extent here as well. They come off a huge Monday Night victory over one of the league’s best teams and have to play this inter-conference matchup prior to dates with division rivals Tampa and New Orleans (who they have yet to go up against).

I am very tempted to take the Dolphins at the current number given all that has been discussed. But there are a few critical factors that make me leery of the matchup in total.

For one, it is possible that Mike Pouncey could miss this game as well after having sat out the last game. They were able to knock off San Diegoa a week ago without him, but it was mostly due to their defense getting quality pressure on Philip Rivers leading to stalled drives ad field goals in what was a low scoring game.

While they need to use the pass to exploit the Carolina defense, they also need to hold up at the line of scrimmage against a double headed monster at DT in Star Lotulelei and Kuwann Short. Pouncey’s absence and potential physical limitations could loom large given how stacked Carolina is in this area and up the middle in general.

Additionally, the Dolphins have a date with the Jets the following week. Historically speaking, they have trended quite poorly in the weeks leading up to and following the matchup with their most bitter of rivals. It’s hard to suggest that a 5-5 team scratching and clawing their way toward the playoffs could actually overlook a 7-3 potential powerhouse that just knocked off their division’s most impressive team.

But history does tend to repeat itself, and there is a reason this number is well in excess of 3 on most boards despite Carolina being on the road.  I’d still be willing play the home dog here in most cases, but Miami is a unique group because of their absurd lack of home field advantage. The Dolphins don’t get great support from their home crowd, and you had better believe that there are plenty of Charlotte residents who would love a late November vacation to South Beach.

I’d look for a 50/50 split in terms of fan support for this game, and that’s enough of a dilution to scare me off Miami here. This is an interesting game and important for both teams on so many levels, but I cannot realistically consider either side to possess necessary value given the items discussed.