CHARLOTTE — There has been an energy pulsing through Bank of America Stadium this week. The moment the Panthers knew they were going to host a wild card playoff game, the locker room collectively and instantly shook off the loss to the Bucs and turned their sights back to the Los Angeles Rams, whom they beat in Week 13.

"The intensity is going to be through the roof," said safety Nick Scott this week. "The fans are going to be there. It's going to be a great environment, extremely exciting, and we're just, we're really happy for this opportunity. We're going to do everything we can to come out with a win."

Defeating the same team twice in a short amount of time is one of the hardest things to do in sports. But this is the playoffs. There are no records once you get to the postseason, and anything can happen, as both the Panthers and Dave Canales know from history well. Two of the four sub-500 teams in playoff history to win their first-round game are the 2010 Seahawks (a staff on which Canales was part) and the 2014 Panthers.

To repeat history will require the most focus they have given in a game yet this season. It will require a balance of being both aggressive and smart, punishing, and unrelenting. Get ready for Saturday's matchup with these five things to watch.

Be aggressive

The playoffs are win-or-go-home. There's nothing to lose, so why not throw it all on the field? When the Panthers defeated the Rams in Week 13, it was on the backs of an aggressive play style that showed up across the game: offense, defense, and special teams.

On offense, both of Bryce Young's passing touchdowns came on fourth down, and the team went 3-for-3 on that down overall, with the other coming on a pitch to Rico Dowdle. Young becomes only the second quarterback to complete multiple explosive passing touchdowns on fourth down since 2016, when the stat began being tracked.

After the regular season, the Panthers have more fourth-down conversions than any team in the league, 27 total, and the second-most attempts with 40, resulting in a 67.5 conversion rate (which is fourth-most efficient).

"It's just a tribute to coach Canales believing in us and then us also executing," said Chuba Hubbard. "Obviously, he always tells us we get in that third-and-short type of range, like be ready for a fourth down, and we're always ready for that. We're confident in it, so it's like any time you can extend a drive or even score, we've done that too. It's obviously a big play having that mindset of being a four-down team."

As to whether they can do it again versus the Rams, ideally with the same results, hinges largely on what happens on earlier downs.

"Just looking for opportunities to be aggressive when it comes up," said Canales this week. "Whether that's going for it on fourth down or taking shots down the field, but it all hinges upon how well our run game does and puts us in favorable third downs to make an extra set of downs.

"It's something that we've struggled with the last two weeks, really not converting a lot on our third downs and just the timing and rhythm of it, making sure the guys understand what the breakdowns are, make sure they understand what type of coverages and things we're getting and that will allow us to just get deeper and deeper into the game plan, into the call sheet, that's what allows you to set things up.

"We need continuity. We need drives to sustain so that we can show them different runs for the play actions. We can show them this pass that complements this other pass, you know, in the screen game. So the more downs you can get, the better off you are, and the more dangerous you can be on the offense."

By the end of the regular season, the league average across the NFL was 5.3 yards per play. In that Week 13 matchup, the Rams averaged 7.4 per play, and the Panthers clicked along at 6.0 per play, both well above the league average (which was also around that 5.5 number at the time). It came as a result of the offense being aggressive, but the defense doing so as well.

The group went after Stafford and the ball all day, resulting in three turnovers, including a pick-six from Mike Jackson. Stafford was sacked twice, and there were four passes defensed.

"It certainly was a lot of good football that made those things happen," defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said. "Stafford's a great player, and he's just not going to turn the ball—or you're going to have to force his hand, and we were able to in a couple of opportunities.

"That being said, you know, we still feel like there's a lot that we left out there. We certainly feel like we can play better and perform better than we did on that day, and we're going to need to because this is a very good football team."

If that is going to amp up this week, it could look like playing Davante Adams differently.

Adams—who has been out since Week 15 with a hamstring injury but was a full participant in practice all week—caught four of five targets for 58 yards and two touchdowns across 22 routes run against the Panthers in Week 13. All of his production came when facing off coverage (5-plus yards of cushion),

Having Jaycee Horn and Tre'von Moehrig back should go a long way towards turning the dial up on that aggression. Both were out in Week 13. Horn has been playing on the line more in recent weeks, and Moehrig has recorded 31 tackles in run defense that resulted in a negative play for the offense (i.e., a run stop), the third-most among all safeties.

On defense, those run stops could come a little easier, considering the Rams announced on Thursday that right guard Kevin Dotson would be out this weekend. According to Pro Football Focus, from Weeks 1-15, the Rams averaged 5.54 yards per carry running behind the RG (Dotson). From Weeks 16-18, behind his replacement, L.A. has averaged just 2.54 yards there.

But also, be smart

If you live by aggression, you can die by aggression, and while moments of it have arguably won the Panthers games this season, there is also something to be said for playing smart and taking yardage when there. You never go broke taking a profit, something Young has done well this season.

Young has been sacked on 13.4 percent of his pressured dropbacks this season, the seventh-lowest rate in the NFL and nearly 10 percentage points lower than his career 22.5 percent pressure-to-sack rate entering 2025. This positive decline is due in part to his increased willingness to take checkdown options. Young has targeted a receiver behind the line of scrimmage on 19.0 percent of his pressured passes, the second-highest rate in the NFL.

The Rams are set to return safety Quentin Lake, who has been out since Week 11 with an elbow injury.

"He's a phenomenal player," said Canales of the safety this week. "He's got size, length, speed. He's aggressive, plays around the line of scrimmage aggressively, almost like a linebacker at times, and then he can cover, covering the slot.

"He matches up well against Jalen Coker in the slot, Tetairoa McMillan, and those guys, because of his length, over 6-1, 200-ish pounds, a fantastic player. We love playing teams when they're at their best, and they got one of their best players back in the secondary, and so we got to be up for that challenge."

As Canales mentioned, Lake has the potential to come up and cover Coker or McMillan. Both receivers pulled in their long touchdowns in Week 13 against Emmanuel Forbes. However, both are also comeback options for Young when he is looking for those check-downs.

In the interest of "being smart," that Wake 13 matchup also utilized the tight ends, notably Mitchell Evans, as check-down options for Young. Evans finished with three receptions for 20 yards.

Get the run game going

The Panthers look poised to get right guard Robert Hunt back this week, putting a mauler on the line. It's perfect timing, considering Canales, offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, Hubbard, and Rico Dowdle have all talked this week about needing to get the run game going again.

"Just do your job," said Hubbard of the message. "Don't always look to just be making big plays and doing this and that. Just keep chopping away, and they'll just eventually come so in those third and short areas or fourth-down, I mean, we're confident that we're going to get it. We've been doing it all year."

After Dowdle was held to 10 yards in the loss last week to the Bucs, he knows he has to prove himself against the 12th-ranked rushing defense (holding teams to 110.8 yards per game on the ground).

"Rough outings, it happens. It's the NFL," said Dowdle. "I got to—we're on to a new week and got to go prove myself this week. We're on to the playoffs, a big game. So looking forward to it for sure. Definitely motivation to be better than I was last week."

The first touchdown in Week 13 was a Hubbard catch-and-run for 35 yards, a wheel route to get him in space. It's a strategy the Panthers can employ, and have at times this year. Ahead of Week 18, the Panthers were averaging the 10th-widest formation in the league, stretching guys out 23.7 yards.

Getting the ball out quickly, either through the run game or quick throws, will be crucial this week against the Rams front that makes their presence felt even in base defense. Jared Verse (67 pressures) and Byron Young (54) combined for 121 pressures this season, the sixth-most among edge duos this season.

On the interior, Kobie Turner (52) and Braden Fiske (36) combined for 88 pressures, tied for the third-most among defensive tackle duos. As a unit, the Rams' defense generated the fifth-highest pressure rate in the NFL (38.0 percent), doing so without relying on extra pass rushers, as they blitzed at the fourth-lowest rate in the league (21.6 percent). When sending four or fewer pass rushers, the Rams generated a 35.7 percent pressure rate, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL.

Get after Stafford

There's a reason Matthew Stafford is an MVP candidate. He leads the entire league with 4,707 passing yards. He has a mind-bending 46-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio and has only been sacked 23 times this season (near the bottom of starting quarterbacks). He does this by getting the ball out quickly at the fourth-quickest rate amongst qualifying quarterbacks, in 2.8 seconds.

"Communication got to be A1 because good quarterbacks like him, they seen it at all," said Horn of the approach against Stafford and his quick release. "If you have any type of mishap, they're most likely going to find it. So, just communication and having our cleats in the ground and everybody being ready, pre-snap, I think that's one of the most important things before the snap."

The pressure on Stafford will start in the middle by forcing him into more throws. The Rams run between the tackles at the third-highest rate in the NFL. But Derrick Brown (45) and A'Shawn Robinson (43) have recorded the fourth-most and sixth-most tackles among defensive tackles that resulted in a negative play for the offense this season, respectively.

The Rams' response, in an effort to keep the run game involved, is typically to work in play-action.

Stafford aligned under center and used play action on a league-high 33.3 percent of his dropbacks this season. The Panthers' defense allowed a league-low 5.3 yards per attempt when defending under-center play-action passes this season, the fewest allowed by a defense in a season since the 2023 Browns (5.1). They also allowed a 54.8 percent completion percentage on these passes, the second-lowest rate in the NFL, higher than only the Lions (54.7%). They allowed only three more receptions (seven) than interceptions (four) on such plays.

In the Week 13 matchup, the Panthers allowed their most yards in a game on under-center play-action passes; however, those numbers also equaled one of Stafford's worst performances in that area. He was pressured just once on those play-action dropbacks (10.0 percent) but was limited to six-of-10 passing for 58 yards, his third-fewest such yards in a game all season. They held Stafford in check when attempting to throw downfield on these play-action dropbacks, as he completed just one of four passes for 32 yards downfield.

With Horn and Moehrig back on the field, the defense can also attempt to disguise coverages more, either for blitzes or to bait the passer into certain looks, giving Stafford a look he didn't see in the previous matchup.

Create playoff atmosphere

By getting into the playoffs as a division champion, the Panthers automatically were awarded a home game. As they head into a wild-card matchup as a sub-.500 team who is severely being counted out (the last line was 10.5), having the home atmosphere can make a world of difference.

"I've been there. I know what it feels like," said Canales this week. He was with the Seahawks in 2010 when Seattle made the playoffs as a sub-.500 team and used the 12's to their advantage, defeating the defending champion New Orleans Saints.

"It's so important that we don't just block it all out, that we take it in and use it, use that energy, use Bank of America Stadium. Playing at home is why it's so important to win the division; you get that first home game, and we're excited about that."

The Rams are 5-4 on the road this season and are 1-3 when playing on the East Coast. Their one victory was against a Lamar Jackson-less Ravens team.

Players feel that fans helped them win the Week 13 matchup, particularly by forcing a delay of game on third down on the Rams' last drive. It forced Stafford into a passing down, and Derrick Brown capitalized with a strip-sack.

"I'm excited to see the community, man, and the fans, everybody just wrap around us and give us that love and support," pleaded pass-rusher Nic Scourton. "Because it means a lot, bro, when you can make somebody jump off sides, and it's third-and-15 on third down, man, that, that means the world to a defense. So, we need them."

The Panthers have also asked fans to be in their seat early, creating a raucous atmosphere from kickoff, and even teased a special pre-game Keep Pounding drummer.