The Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers will match up in the first game of Wild Card Weekend on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams made the postseason as a wild-card team, finishing with an impressive 12-5 record. MVP candidate Matthew Stafford leads Los Angeles and has one of the deepest offenses in the NFL. The Rams earned the No. 5 seed, which guaranteed that they would go on the road to face Carolina in the first round, and were not guaranteed any home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Panthers lost their Week 18 matchup to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This took Carolina out of the driver's seat for the NFC South crown, but the Panthers still won the division after the Atlanta Falcons beating the New Orleans Saints. Carolina enters the playoffs as the No. 4 seed with a 8-9 record. One of the Panthers' wins in the regular season came against the Rams in Week 13.
Here is more on who the Rams or the Panthers could play in the divisional round.
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Who would the Rams play next?
The Rams and Panthers next opponent would depend on who else wins over the weekend.
If Los Angeles is the only wild card team to win, it would go on the road to take on the No. 1 Seattle Seahawks. If the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers or No. 7 Green Bay Packers win, the No. 1 Seahawks would instead play the lowest-seeded team still in the playoffs.
There are outcomes where the Rams could play the No. 1 Seahawks, No. 2 Chicago Bears, No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles or No. 6 49ers.
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Who would the Panthers play next?
The Panthers earned a top-four seed by winning the NFC South which brought gave them home field advantage for this matchup.
Should Carolina win, its next opponent depends on the results of the rest of the matchups. Carolina could be forced to go on the road to take on the Seahawks if all of the home teams win in the wild-card round. If one of the other wild-card teams win, the Panthers' next game could vary.
The Seahawks will take on the lowest seed remaining in the divisional round. If a team with a lower seed than the Panthers wins, there is a chance that Carolina could face the Bears or 49ers on the road. There is a small chance, if both the 49ers and the Packers win, that the Panthers would be at home in the divisional round to face the 49ers while the Packers would go on the road to take on the Seahawks.
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