Since the 49ers are not playing until tomorrow night, we fans get to enjoy a full day of football where the only real implications are in our weekly Panthers Watch, and of course fantasy football. For leagues of 6 or 8 playoff teams, the first round is underway for you. In my three fantasy leagues, I managed to land one playoff team, so here's hoping for something good.
More importantly for 49ers fans, we get another week of Panthers Watch 2009. The Panthers are traveling to Gillette Stadium to face a New England Patriots squad that is struggling with a 2-game losing streak. Of course, the Patriots are undefeated at home, and the Panthers will be rolling out mighty Matt Moore again. Given that the Panthers have struggled to win even when their vaunted rushing attack is operating on all cylinders, it's going to be tough for them to keep up with the high octane Patriots. Even though the 49ers playoff chances are almost extinct, at least the Panthers can provide us with some entertainment.
Beyond that Panthers, we've got an assortment of entertaining games. If you missed Josh Branco's preview yesterday, go check it out during the games today. I've got my last final of the semester on Monday so I won't be joining folks in the game thread today. However, I'll keep an eye out, and if things get especially full, I'll open up a new thread.
Otherwise, enjoy a relaxing Sunday of football. If you've got the Red Zone channel you can just sit on that all day long until Sunday Night Football starts. Good luck to everybody if you're in your fantasy league playoffs.
Also, feel free to join in our discussion concerning TO's comments about a possible return to the 49ers.
And don't forget to get your prediction contest picks in today. If you miss the early games, you can still pick the late games.