CHARLOTTE — When you face a familiar team in the playoffs, there are advantages. You have tape of what you do well against the opponent, and more importantly, what you don't do well.

When Matthew Stafford begin wild card prep this week by evaluating his Week 13 performance against the Panthers, it wasn't hard to identify what went wrong for the MVP candidate.

"I'd like to not throw it to their team," the QB joked. "I think that was the story of the game when you think about it."

Stafford famously threw 28 straight touchdown passes over the course of 10 weeks without an interception. He threw two in the Panthers 31-28 win in Week 13, starting with a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage by Derrick Brown that Nick Scott intercepted int he end zone, a pick-six to Mike Jackson, and finally a strip sack from Brown, leading to D.J. Wonnum fumble recovery.

"We moved the ball well in some areas," Stafford said. "We scored a couple times in the red zone. We did some nice things, ran it well and just had the turnovers. When you look at their defense, that's what they've been able to do to a lot of teams, whether it's getting a tip at the line of scrimmage and somebody making a play on it or somebody in the back end making a play or stripping the ball. They're an opportunistic group with a bunch of playmakers."

And a couple of those playmakers will be on the field this weekend after missing the Week 13 matchup. Cornerback Jaycee Horn was sidelined that week with a concussion. Safety Tre'von Moehrig was also out of the building, serving a one-game suspension.

Horn actually had to watch that Week 13 matchup from home as he recovered, and got quiet the show. As to whether it can be replicated exactly this week remains to be seen.

"Football is just, it's a weird game, you know what I'm saying," posed Horn. "The ball bounced certain ways and you got to execute when you have those opportunities."

But to Stafford's point, the defense is opportunistic, tied for 10th in the league with 21 takeaways. Horn is tied for second in the league with five interceptions, Moehrig has one, and Mike Jackson leads the entire NFL with 19 passes defensed.

"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. 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," continued Stafford.

"I think both of their corners are as good as you'll see in the league. They have unique skill sets to themselves. 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."

Nick Scott played with Stafford in L.A. He appreciates the QBs words but also understands the veteran knows how to play the gamesmanship card.

"He's probably just trying to butter us up a little bit," Scott grinned. "But, no, he's a good dude and I appreciate him saying that.

"Coach E (defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero), (defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan) Cooley, Noddy (secondary coach Renaldo Hill), all those guys, I mean, they've created a lot of clarity in this back end; they did a tremendous job developing the guys and making sure that we fully understand not only the game plan but how this defense is supposed to operate from a whole, and then it just comes down to communication at that point."

This will be the first playoff game for Horn, and the two-time Pro Bowler could help the Panthers add another element to how the play Stafford.

"I feel like they call similar things, but it's just adding in an All-Pro type player," pointed out Stafford.

But his presence alone wasn't the difference in Week 13 and likely won't be the difference on Saturday. Instead it's a defensive backend and corner unit that has spent all season working towards this point, for the biggest performance yet.

"Just the way we work together, yeah, I feel like we go back to OTAs and training camp, what we put in," bragged Horn of his team and how they became such a formidable unit. "Credit to us and the coaches preparing us.

"I also think just being in this game and me in my third year and (Mike) in his second year and you get more comfortable. So yeah, it's good to be, have everybody healthy for this big time game."