Home-field advantage at stake for NFC powerhouses

Even Justin Tuck says his New York Giants aren't the best team in the NFC right now. They can reclaim that stature Sunday night, or the Carolina Panthers will prove it belongs to them.

Home-field advantage throughout the playoffs will be on the line as the stumbling Giants try to silence their doubters and potentially prevent the Panthers from even clinching a postseason berth.

Though both teams are 11-3 and could end the regular season with identical records regardless of Sunday's result, the one that wins will earn the tiebreaker and wrap up the No. 1 seed in the conference.

"We have a big game against Carolina this week, we all know it, we know what is at stake in it," Tuck said. "I really expect us to come out and not only try, but really right the ship because let's call it what it is, we haven't played well the last two games for whatever reason that may be and no one wants to go into the playoffs like we have the last two games."

While New York is on the verge of its first three-game losing streak since 2006 -- maybe still feeling the after-effects of the distraction caused by the Plaxico Burress case -- it's facing a Carolina team which has won three straight and seven of eight.

"My motto has always been, 'to be the best you have to beat the best,' and right now Carolina ... is probably the best team in the NFL," said Tuck, the defensive end recently named to his first Pro Bowl. "They look that good to me. We know we have our hands full, but we feel as though when we play Giants football we can handle anybody and that is what we have to get back to doing."

If they lose Sunday while Minnesota wins, the NFC East champions would need to beat the Vikings in Week 17 just to get a first-round bye.

The difference between winning and losing this week is just as great, if not more so, for Carolina.

While a victory keeps the Panthers at home throughout the playoffs, a loss could send them into Week 17 possibly needing a victory just to make the postseason. If Dallas, Tampa Bay and Atlanta all win their final two games, Carolina would miss the playoffs by losing its last two.

"The games do get better. That's the NFL," Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "That's part of it. That's what you want. You live to play in these situations."