My gut tells me that Vinny Testaverde will start today.

   When contacted around noon Sunday, GM Marty Hurney would not confirm that -- "It's still a game-time decision," he said -- I fully believe Testaverde will start. In fact, I've thought he would start all week long, except for a brief period on Friday when the Panthers declared Carr "probable."

   That surprised me.

   Now, looking back, I think there might have been a little gamemanship at play. Do I think the Panthers wanted the Cardinals to think Carr would start, knowing full well Testaverde would start? Yes. Do I think his back really tightened up on the flight? I'm a little skeptical. After all, if his back starting getting tight sitting down for four hours, couldn't he have just laid down in the aisle for awhile? So do I think Carolina's plan all week long was to start Testaverde, but attempt to mask it as much as possible? It's very possible.

   My feeling -- as reflected in the column I wrote earlier this week -- is that the main reason the Panthers went after Testaverde is because he's about the only free agent who could come in on a week's notice and start for this team and not look terrible running this offense. Honestly, Testaverde's arm looked real strong in practice.

   So, we'll see what happens. Game time is still about three hours away but I expect Vinny gets the start.

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