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The second weekend of the NFL playoffs will begin with the St. Louis Rams at home against a winner of one of this weekend's first-round games.
New England also will play Saturday, while Kansas City will be home on Sunday, followed by a late afternoon game in Philadelphia.
All four home teams have byes this weekend.
The teams are reseeded after the first round, so the second-seeded Rams (12-4) will play either Carolina, Green Bay or Seattle at 4:30 p.m EST. Then New England (14-2), will meet Baltimore, Tennesse or Denver at 8:15 p.m.
Sunday's games will begin at 1 p.m. with Kansas City (13-3), the AFC's second seeded-team, facing Indianapolis, Baltimore or Tennessee. The last game of the weekend will begin at 4:45 p.m. with Philadelphia (12-4), top seed in the NFC, meeting Green Bay, Seattle or Dallas.
The Carolina Panthers won 11 games, the NFC South title and earned the third seed in the playoffs. Despite those accomplishments, they feel they have fallen into the shadow of the Dallas Cowboys.
As the two teams prepare to meet in the first round of the playoffs Saturday night in Charlotte, the Panthers (11-5) feel overlooked.
``I don't think we get the respect we deserve,'' defensive end Julius Peppers said Tuesday. ``Just before this year, everybody was like `They ain't going to do that good.' But now we are here and ain't nobody giving us a chance to beat them.''
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Maybe it's the star on their helmet, their long winning tradition, or Bill Parcells
roaming the sideline. Whatever it is, the Cowboys (10-6) have an aura about
them that Carolina is a little fed up with.
``I wasn't even born when they got that title so I don't know why they are America's Team,'' defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. ``I read a couple books, but I never got the answer for it. Does it irk you? Yeah, because you are out here doing the same thing.''
Buckner got his fill of Dallas during his years playing for Pittsburgh and San Francisco, two of the Cowboys' bitter rivals. Now he's chomping at the bit at a shot of ending their season, but understands why few think the Panthers will get it done.
Dallas has won four straight games over the Panthers, including a 24-20 victory in November.
``They beat us, so I would think they should have all the confidence in the world,'' Buckner said. ``If me and you get in a fight, and I beat you the first time, you going to come in here and try to beat me in the rematch? It's going to be hard. So why should they be scared?''
Much of Dallas' confidence this season came from their win over the Panthers. Parcells said at the time it was their biggest win of the season -- it improved Dallas to 8-3 after three consecutive 5-11 seasons.
The loss was a bitter setback for the Panthers, who at the time had one of the best records in the NFC. It led to a three-game losing streak that created a frustrating push to clinch the NFC South title.
The Panthers, particularly coach John Fox, took little comfort in Dallas marking its improvement by beating them.
``That was a big game for them, a home game,'' Fox said. ``At that point in the season, getting to that level of a number of victories is important. It would have been an important win for us. I'm not sure there would have been tears, but every win is important.''
Yet not even 11 of them -- including two early season victories over Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay -- has the Panthers garnering much respect around the league. And as much as they'd like to downplay it and act like it doesn't bother them, it does.
``If somebody comes in your house and doesn't respect you, basically walks into your house, knocks over your dishes and kicks your cat -- what are you going to do? Punch him in the mouth,'' defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said.
``I'm not attacking nobody ... and I don't care if somebody doesn't respect us, that's on them. You still have to come through us.''
That's why a win over Dallas won't be enough for the Panthers, who are in the postseason for the first time in seven years and hosting a playoff game for just the second time in franchise history. The last time? 1996 against the Cowboys, when the Panthers beat Dallas to advance to the NFC Championship game.
But any shot at building a reputation quickly unraveled with a string of losing seasons, capped by the 1-15 campaign two years ago.
``Beating the Cowboys could get us a little respect, but not a lot,'' defensive end Mike Rucker said. ``It's because we haven't been around a long time, so we don't have a long history as some of the other teams.
``We are still building that history and this is part of it now. I think as we get stronger and people know we went from 1-15, to 7-9 to 11-5, we will start getting that respect.''