Miami @ Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 22, 2015 ) Miami 30, Carolina 31

The Carolina Panthers are nipping at the heels of first place in the NFC South due in large part to their top-ranked defense, which has yielded an NFL-low 274.1 yards per game while their 29 sacks are second-best in the league. The Panthers look to continue their dominance on Monday night when they host the Miami Dolphins, who average an NFL-worst 14.5 points per game.

"How well can we protect? That's where it starts and it filters down after that," Miami coach Adam Gase said of his team's daunting task against Luke Kuechly (team-best 65 tackles), Julius Peppers (club-high 7.5 sacks) and company. "It's a huge puzzle and you're trying to put it together. ... We just have to find a way to clean a few things up. I feel like we're close." Given time, Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler completed a career-high 81 percent of his passes (34 of 42, 311 yards) in Sunday's 27-24 loss to Oakland. While the Dolphins have dropped two straight to even their record, the Panthers have answered a two-game skid with two wins of their own to remain a half-game behind streaking New Orleans in the NFC South. "A prime-time game and peaking right when we're supposed to be. Come Monday night, everybody come ready to rock and roll," said Carolina's Cam Newton, who has thrown for 11 touchdowns and rushed for two more in five Monday night appearances.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Panthers -9. O/U: 38.5

ABOUT THE DOLPHINS (4-4): Miami's beleaguered ground attack took a step forward in the wake of the team trading Pro Bowl selection Jay Ajayi to Philadelphia, as Kenyan Drake amassed 104 yards from scrimmage versus Oakland while fellow running back Damien Williams had a touchdown reception. Wideout Jarvis Landry, who also found the end zone against the Raiders, is second in the NFL with 56 catches while his 344 receptions since entering the NFL in 2014 is the most in league history by a player in his first four seasons. Fellow wideout DeVante Parker showed no signs of an ailing ankle last week by reeling in five catches and 76 yards, but his toes have found the end zone on just one occasion this season.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (6-3): While Newton rushed for 86 yards in Carolina's 20-17 win over Atlanta on Sunday, the Panthers likely were happier that rookie Christian McCaffrey picked up a season-best 66 with his first rushing score last week. "A lot had to do with the blocking up front," coach Ron Rivera said. "I thought we got our hands on them and we were able to push and Christian was able to make some cuts." McCaffrey leads the team with 54 catches out of the backfield, but Devin Funchess also has stepped up as the team's top wideout since Kelvin Benjamin was traded to Buffalo. "Very savvy. He's growing into the role," Newton said of the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Funchess, who had five catches for 86 yards last week.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Miami DT Ndamukong Suh has registered all 3.5 of his sacks this season in the past five games.

2. Kuechly recorded double digits in tackles for the second time in five games after registering a team-high 11 last week.

3. Dolphins S Reshad Jones leads the team in tackles (55) and interceptions (two) while sharing top honors in pass deflections (three) with CB Xavien Howard.

PREDICTION: Panthers 20, Dolphins 9