CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A year ago, the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers met with a spot in the Super Bowl at stake.On Sunday, theyre simply trying to gain traction as theyve encountered unexpected struggles across the first half of the season.I feel good about us coming into this stretch, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. We have a lot of really good guys in that locker room who have a lot of confidence. They work really hard. We have an opportunity now because we have some really good football players, but again we have to go and execute.The Panthers (1-5), who are coming off an open date on their schedule, havent won since the second week of the season. Arizona (3-3-1) is trying to regroup after Sunday nights bizarre 6-6 tie with the Seattle Seahawks.Its the ultimate team game for a reason, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. It takes all three phases to win a game.So now its a rematch of last seasons NFC championship game, though this matchup has a largely different vibe. Carolina won in a 49-15 romp last January in a game that Rivera acknowledged went well from the start and throughout for the Panthers.That hasnt been the case during the opening weeks of this season.Now is the time that weve got to respond, Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short said.Rivera has insisted that its not too late for the Panthers to make something of the season. He pointed out that with two of the NFC South teams losing games last weekend that theres ample chance for the Panthers to factor into the divisional title.You just have to keep believing that you have an opportunity, Rivera said. It bodes well for us as we go into this stretch of the season.The Cardinals are in second place in the NFC West.Our football team is very, very resilient, Arians said. Its a long journey to the end.Arizona has the second-best defensive rating in the NFL by holding opponents to 289.6 yards per game. The Cardinals havent surrendered a touchdown in their last two games. Carolinas offense has cranked out 371.5 yards per game for the fourth-best mark in the league.Despite those numbers, the teams dont have records that correspond to those statistics.The Cardinals had 90 snaps against Seattle and it still wasnt enough.We didnt get the result we want and now we have to go play the Panthers, tight end Ifeanyi Momah said.Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer threw 49 passes without an interception against the Seahawks. In the playoff game last season against Carolina, he was picked off four times.The Cardinals lost receiver Jaron Brown to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the Seattle game. On the plus side, its possible that receiver John Brown could be back after missing a game with a leg ailment.It will be interesting to see who plays against us and whats their attitude about how they want to attack, Rivera said.Panthers left tackle Michael Oher stayed in concussion protocol at the beginning of the week, so his status remains unclear although Rivera reported that significant progress has been made. Oher already has missed three games.Otherwise, the Panthers report a healthy roster, aided by the week off. Rivera said he liked the attitude since the team returned from the weekend away from football.The energy level was very high, he said. A lot of good things happen for us.For the coaching staff, Rivera said the week without a game was a chance to self-scout and determine what will best suit the team for the final 10 games of the regular season.We need to put them in situations to be successful, he said.After last weeks Arizona result, both coaches have a tie on their career records. The Panthers tied the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014, though the 37-37 outcome was vastly different from the game the Cardinals just experienced.This will be the 10th meeting in 10 seasons between the teams, who have met three times in the postseason during that span. The Panthers hold a 10-5 series edge overall.The game was originally set for a late-afternoon time slot, but it was changed under the NFLs flex scheduling to the early afternoon. Discount New Balance Shoes .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Wholesale New Balance Shoes . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.cheapnewbalance.com/ . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. New Balance Shoes Store . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. New Balance Running Shoes Outlet . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. MILWAUKEE -- Draymond Green knew what was coming.Golden State was up by two and had to defend an inbounds pass from the Milwaukee Bucks with 10.1 seconds left on the Warriors side of the court. Green had the assignment of guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks athletic 6-foot-11 forward.Green tipped away the pass, Klay Thompson secured the loose ball before hitting two critical foul shots, and the Warriors held on to beat Milwaukee 124-121 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory.Thats what Draymond does. He sees the game. He knows whats coming, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. All I saw was that he got a hand on it and Klay ended up with it. Ive seen that before. Draymond is unbelivable in those situations.Kevin Durant scored 33 points, while Thompson had 25 of his 29 in the second half.But they had to hold off a late charge by the Bucks after leading by as much as 14 points. Jabari Parker and Antetokounmpo led a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter that cut it to 122-120 with about 2 1/2 minutes left on Parkers three-point play.The guys fought for 48 minutes, coach Jason Kidd said.Rowdy Bucks fans had designs of an upset of Golden State at the Bradley Center, just like last season. The teams exchanged empty possessions before Greens sparkling defensive effort with 10 seconds left.Once Giannis was down on the block, I already knew what they were running. I was just waiting on them to pass the ball in, Green said.Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, while Parker had 28.Theres no satisfaction, weve got to keep getting better, Antetokounmpo said. As a team were not a finished product yet.TIP-INSWarriors: Durant gave the Warriors a brief scare after he got up slowly after bumping into Parker with 9 minutes left in the third quarter. Trainers appeared to be looking at Durants leg during a timeout, and Durant stayed in the game. He looked fine after running down the lanne for a dunk that gave the Warriors an 85-78 lead with 5:58 left in the period.dddddddddddd Durant had 25 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting. ... Golden State won its third straight road game despite a subpar shooting night for Stephen Curry, who was 1 of 11 from behind the arc. Curry finished with 20 points.Bucks: The Bucks trailed 69-66 at halftime in spite of a season-high offensive output in the first half. It was also a season-high points allowed in the first half for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo had 16 before halftime, when the Bucks shot 59 percent. A 37-point first quarter was also a season-high for that quarter for the Bucks.FRIENDLY CHALLENGEKerr issued a good-natured, last-minute challenge to Bucks fans before the game.Kerr said that if a fan showed up with a 10-3 shirt, he would give that fan two tickets to a Golden State home game, though there were several other stipulations, too. First and foremost, the Bucks had to win.The Warriors were 10-2 entering Saturday nights game. Kerrs dare was in reference to how Bucks fans confidently wore 24-1 shirts ahead of the Warriors visit last season to Milwaukee on Dec. 12.I am not giving them a plane ticket, or a place to stay, but Ill give (them) a couple tickets to a game, Kerr said.He never had to follow through.QUOTABLEYou feed off that energy. You need that as a team ... Whoever believes in us and wants us to be great, hopefully they can come to the arena and watch us play. -- Antetokounmpo about the energetic fans in the fourth quarter.UP NEXTWarriors: Wrap up a four-game road trip with a visit to the Indiana Pacers on Monday.Bucks: Host Orlando on Monday. 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