Cat Scratch Reader
In Week 13 the Carolina Panthers shocked the world with their upset of the then 9-2 Los Angeles Rams. Our first iteration of an interview with a Rams blogger barely accounted for the possibility of a Panthers win, let alone a playoff rematch. Look at us now. Recent history aside, however, expectations going into tomorrow’s game against the Rams are quite similar to their first meeting. The Rams are seen as a true Super Bowl contender and are only traveling to visit the much weaker—at least on paper—Panthers due to a quirk in playoff seeding.
So, where does that leave us this week? Read on for the Rams perspective on that question and more:
What was the fan reaction to the first time the Panthers upset the Rams this season? Do you expect that reaction to be different when it happens a second time?
HA! If it happens a second time, fans on our site might just go nuclear.
The fan reaction wasn’t anything too crazy when it happened. A lot of them seemed more concerned about Matthew Stafford’s MVP case taking a significant hit, rather than being upset over the loss. In all fairness, that concern was warranted since that was when you saw the media beginning to shift from Stafford as the favorite to Drake Maye. Many fans also felt that the loss was something that needed to happen. At the time, the Rams were viewed as the league’s best team in a wide-open NFL campaign. They were dominating just about everyone they had encountered in that span, and then the Panthers took the air out of their sails. L.A. needed to be reminded that they could lose at any time and they weren’t unbeatable. While that wake-up call might not have stuck as much as it should’ve, fans could stomach it if it meant a return to their dominant ways.
Jokes aside, it is has been a long five weeks of football since the Week 13 meeting. The Panthers hit a bye-week immediately after and then went 1-3 down the stretch despite getting healthier over that time. How have the Los Angeles Rams changed as a team since their loss to the Panthers?
The Rams didn’t fare that much better, all things considered, going 3-2 since the Carolina debacle. Following the loss, L.A. won back-to-back games over the Cardinals and Lions, scoring at least 41 points in those matchups. Then, the Rams suffered a two-game losing streak, first to the Seahawks, which ended all hope of earning the number one seed in the NFC and repeating as NFC West champions, and followed that up with another Stafford three-turnover performance in a loss to the Falcons on Monday Night Football. The Seattle loss was especially frustrating because the team completely gave it away after going up 30-14. Given the stakes on the line, there was zero excuse for such a meltdown. Los Angeles has had the Seahawks’ number and picked the worst possible time to lose to them....
