Working on a short week, the Carolina Panthers returned to practice on Tuesday and began preparing for Saturday night's game against Dallas.

   Six players did not practice due to injury or illness, including defensive end Julius Peppers (knee), wide receivers Steve Smith (illness) and Keary Colbert (knee), offensive linemen Geoff Hangartner (shoulder) and Justin Hartwig (ankle),  and defensive tackle Kindal Moorehead (ankle). Fullback Billy Latsko did not practice because of a death in the family.

    --The NFL will announce the Pro Bowl teams at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

   --Despite Minnesota's win over Chicago, the Panthers (6-8) are not yet eliminated from playoff contention, but their hopes of reaching the postseason went from bad to worse. Basically, they need nothing short of a miracle of It's-A-Wonderful-Life proportions to pull it off.

   But hey, it worked for George Bailey.

   Here's what would need to happen for the Panthers to still get in:

   1. The Panthers would have to win their final two games (vs. Dallas, at Tampa Bay).

   2. The Vikings (8-6) would have to lose their final two games (vs. Washington, at Denver)

   3. Washington (7-7) has to lose at home in Week 17 to Dallas.

   4. New Orleans (7-7) has to lose one of its final two games (vs. Philadelphia, at Chicago)

    If all that happens, the Panthers would get in at 8-8 over Minnesota, Washington and New Orleans because they have the best conference record of any of those teams.