Los Angeles Rams at Carolina Panthers

The Wild Card round opens in Charlotte with a matchup that looks lopsided on paper: Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford bring the Rams into town as a heavy favorite against Dave Canales and Bryce Young’s Panthers. And if you’ve been following Bet Thrive at all, there should be zero mystery where we’re leaning.

Let’s start with the simplest truth: the Rams are the highest-rated team in our playoff power rankings, and Carolina is the lowest. That doesn’t mean the Panthers are a “bad story” — they aren’t. They won the games they needed to, grabbed a division, and earned the right to host. But this is where the postseason gets cruel: you’re rewarded with a roster and coaching staff that can stress-test every weakness you have.

Carolina will point to the Week 13 result as proof they can hang — a 31–28 win in this same building — and that’s fair. But that game also came with swing plays that are hard to bank on repeating: a defensive touchdown and a late strip-sack that flipped the script. If you’re trying to beat the Rams twice, you’re asking for two near-perfect games of discipline, field position, and red-zone efficiency. That’s a tall order against a Stafford-led offense that can get hot early and a McVay game plan that usually improves in rematches.

From a matchup standpoint, this sets up for Los Angeles to dictate tempo. The Rams should be able to create early separation, force Carolina into longer down-and-distance situations, and make the Panthers play catch-up from the second quarter on. If that happens, it becomes less about “Can Carolina keep it close?” and more about “Can Carolina avoid the avalanche?”

We’re calling it: Rams 34, Panthers 13.