The Carolina Panthers are facing a familiar opponent when they face the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium. In Week 13, the Panthers got the best of Matthew Stafford and the Rams in a stunning 31-28 win.
Not many people are giving the Panthers a shot against the Rams, despite their earlier upset win. According to Ross Kelly of CBS Sports, the Rams are 10.5-point favorites over the Panthers in their Wild Card game.
However, Stafford experienced the Panthers’ defense firsthand and is not taking them lightly.
Stafford Respects Panthers DB’s
Coming into his Week 13 game against the Panthers, Matt Stafford had a lengthy streak of touchdowns without throwing an interception, and Mike Jackson snapped that streak at 28 with a 48-yard pick-six.
Stafford added another interception and a strip-sack fumble to his day, as the Panthers’ defense had his number. Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com, in her January 7 article, wrote about Stafford and his respect for the Panthers’ Defense.
“The last few weeks, they’ve shut down some offenses that have done a really nice job so we’ll have our work cut out for us,” Stafford said. “They have good players at all three levels and are really well-coached. I have a ton of respect for them and what they can do.”
Stafford specifically had praise for Pro Bowl corner Jaycee Horn and Jackson.
“I think both of their corners are as good as you’ll see in the league. They have unique skill sets to themselves,” Stafford said. “They play to their strengths. Their defense helps those guys play to their strength and they are really good football players. As far as the backend goes, it’s about as good as we’ve seen all year and it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
The respect between Stafford and the Panthers is mutual, as one of the front-runners for MVP is still as dangerous as ever.
More on the Table
The Panthers are not resting on their laurels, despite defeating Matt Stafford and the Rams earlier this season. Even though they forced three turnovers by him, they still feel like they left some plays out on the field that should have been made.
Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who won a Super Bowl with the Rams, discussed the difficulties of facing Stafford. Joseph Person of The Athletic wrote about Ejiro’s praise of Stafford in his January 8 article.
“It certainly was a lot of good football that made those things happen,” Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said. “Matthew Stafford’s a great player and he’s just not gonna turn the ball over. You’re gonna have to force his hand. We were able to in a couple opportunities. That being said, we still feel like there was a lot we left out there.”
Another Panther familiar with Stafford is linebacker Christian Rozeboom, who played with the Rams for four seasons and discussed practice sessions with Stafford, noting they could be frustrating.
“But you learn a lot,” Rozeboom said. “You learn to be in the right spots. He’s gonna make a throw. Somebody’s gonna make a play, and you’ve just gotta move on to the next time. Hopefully we can get one back.”
As such a large underdog, the Panthers will likely need to rely on turnovers to win, but they have already set the blueprint for doing so.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Matt Stafford Has ‘A Ton of Respect’ for the Panthers Defense appeared first on Heavy Sports.