Rams @ Panthers Wild Card Preview

Even though the Rams lost 28-31 to the Panthers only 39 days ago, LA opened as a 10-point favorite that moved to 10.5 very quickly after the markets opened.

The truth is that Carolina was fortunate to win that game. We all remember how Stafford crapped his pants that afternoon with a fumble and two interceptions, one getting returned for a pick-6.

But we saw the Rams’ offense HUMMING last week against Arizona, where Stafford lit up the scoreboard late with four passing TDs, even as Davante Adams sat and rested his hamstring. He should be healthy on Saturday.

On the contrary, last week the Panthers went down to Tampa Bay and lost 14-16 in a rain game. Carolina played some of the ugliest football I’d seen from them this season, but I’ll give it a pass due to the weather. It took QB Bryce Young forever to get it together, bringing the Panthers almost back in it in the fourth quarter, but it was too late.

The NFC South has been tricky this year. Everyone looked decent at one time and looked ATROCIOUS at others. The Panthers lucked out when Atlanta beat New Orleans last week, sending them into the playoffs on the tiebreaker.

Without Adams, LA lost an overtime shootout in Seattle against the best defense in the league, which shouldn’t have even been an OT game. That two-point conversion on what they ruled an incomplete pass on the field shouldn’t have counted, in my opinion. They had a stinker against Atlanta, as Stafford potentially lost the MVP after throwing three picks. But last week, they battled adversity vs. the Cardinals. Down four late in the game, the Rams put up 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter. Even against the eliminated, Week 18 Cardinals, that’s hard to do.

The Panthers have been very up and down, and the last two weeks they’ve been down. But after a 0-2 start, they know what it’s like to have their backs against the wall – they’ve been there all season. Where they are good is by staying in games. They haven’t won a game by more than three since October 19th, in WEEK 7 (!!!), and the only game before that was in Week 4, when they blew out the Falcons.

It will be extremely difficult for Carolina to beat the Rams again. They were very fortunate to have done it once, and now with Stafford getting his 1B receiver back, it’s hard to see a world where Carolina takes them down again.

I do think 10.5 is too many points, and as the public gets more and more on the Rams (52% on the spread, 86% on the moneyline), the spread could easily shift to 11.5 or more by 4:30 Saturday.

My prediction is 31-23, Los Angeles.