A familiar foe awaits the Rams in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, as they'll head to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Panthers for their postseason opener, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. pacific time Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.
Ahead of the contest, here is your First Look at Rams-Panthers, presented by ...
Notable Panthers additions
- Selected former Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the first round (eighth overall) of this year's draft. McMillan finished as Carolina's top receiver as a rookie; his 70 receptions, 1,014 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns all led the team.
- Signed former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle to a one-year deal on March 12: Though now sharing carries with Chuba Hubbard, Dowdle's speed and explosiveness still make him a big-play threat anytime he takes a handoff or toss. He ended the regular season as the Panthers' leading rusher with 236 carries for 1,076 yards and six touchdowns.
Top performers in Week 18
Quarterback Bryce Young completed 24 of 35 pass attempts for 266 yards and two touchdowns against one interception in Carolina's 16-14 road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
McMillan led the Panthers' receivers with 85 receiving yards on four catches.
Defensive tackle Derrick Brown led Carolina's defense with 13 total tackles, and inside linebacker Christian Rozeboom added an interception.
Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald missed his lone field goal attempt (54 yards) but made both of his extra point attempts, while punter Sam Martin averaged 46.3 yards per punt across three punts.
Early storylines to watch, and what they mean for the Rams
Head coach Sean McVay said the Rams are getting healthy at the right time this week, and while starting right guard Kevin Dotson's status is still to be determined, they do expect to have safety Quentin Lake and wide receiver Davante Adams back this weekend.
Lake's return will be a welcome addition to a secondary that has valued his preparation, leadership and on-field communication when he's been on the field this season. It's been well-documented how valuable Adams – who finished the regular season as the league-leader in receiving touchdowns (14) despite missing the final three weeks – has been in the red zone, especially out of 13 personnel packages.
Adams had four catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns in Week 13 at Carolina. And Lake's presence likely would've helped mitigate some of the explosive pass plays the secondary gave up – especially on fourth downs – in that first meeting.
Reinforcements are on the way. Let's see what difference it makes in Saturday's rematch.
