Rams-Panthers playoff matchup carries far more risk than odds suggest

The Los Angeles Rams might be a wild card team but even still, they're considered as one of the most dangerous teams heading into the playoffs. Some might look at their wild card matchup against the Carolina Panthers, who won their division with a losing record, and think the Rams will dominate and be a shoo-in to make the divisional round but there's a reason teams play the games each week.

First and foremost, we need to talk about how the Rams already lost to this same Panthers team not long ago. That happened when the Rams were the talk of the league and looked like the Super Bowl favorite. The Panthers made Matthew Stafford uncomfortable all afternoon long and if he ends up losing out on the MVP to Drake Maye, that game will have had something to do with it.

Ejiro Evero, the Panthers defensive coordinator who previously worked with McVay in the Rams from 2017 to 2021, played a major part in the Panthers winning that game. His defensive packages confused the heck out of Stafford and we saw the end result of that. Evero is a big reason why Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network thinks this game could be closer than people think even with how talented the Rams are.

"The Rams may be the most dangerous wild card team we've seen in some time," Cameron Wolfe said. "I can't wait to watch Sean McVay versus his former protégé, Ejiro Evero, the defensive coordinator of the Panthers. Remember the Panthers... they beat the Rams in late November and their formula actually came on this side of the ball. They turned Matthew Stafford over three times, they got their hands on the ball and they showed him a lot of different coverages. The Panthers are not apologizing for getting in the playoffs and hosting a playoff game and they think they can shock some people. Can Matthew Stafford continue on his MVP flow... This Panthers defense, can they call some turnovers and make this game spicy? I think this game could be more competitive than people think."

Rams-Panthers wildcard game isn’t nearly as safe as it looks

Even though the Rams are massive favorites in this game (10 point favorites, as of this writing), fans should know better than to count anyone out, especially a team that already proved they could go toe-to-toe with them. The good news is that, because of that loss in November, Stafford and the Rams know what they're up against now and won't be taking the Panthers lightly.

Teams have gotten into the playoffs with losing records before and gone on to win their wild card matchups. The Rams need to learn from their previous loss to the Panthers to ensure they don't become the next victim of that.