On the Panthers' defense: "I think their ranking pretty much tells a lot of the story. It's probably the best defense that we've played this year so far. The talent level up front is as good as you can get. I think the linebackers; I don't know if we've ever – in our two years (in Miami) – played a group like this before. The back end has done a great job of staying as tight as they need to and contesting on throws. The safeties have done a good job just making sure that they're staying in front of things and then when they get their opportunities, for the most part they've made plays on the ball. The linebackers always are going to be the toughest guys to go against just because of the way (Luke) Kuechly plays and Thomas Davis. It really makes it tough offensively to match the kind of speed that they have."

On the Panthers' defensive line and which player impresses him the most:"Well, (Kawann) Short is probably … We're lucky enough to have one of the best guys in the league playing defensive tackle (Ndamukong Suh), and I think they've got one of the best guys in the league. There's probably like two or three of these guys that exist in the world, and we've got one and they've got one. Just to watch him play, when you turn on the field and watch how much he penetrates and how disruptive he is, he's a special player. Those guys do an unbelievable job up front of keeping those linebackers clean and letting them use their ability to run to their advantage. When I watch (Julius) Peppers play, it's unbelievable. Just being in Chicago for a year and going against him and then a couple of times in Denver when we went against him, it's unbelievable just to see that he's still playing at the level he's playing at. There has been some really outstanding plays he's had this season where it just flashes like he was 25 years old again. It's been an impressive thing to watch."

On Monday Night Football:"I've tried to think how many Monday night games I've actually been involved in. It seems like every one I've been involved in, it's been some kind of crazy game at the end of the game, where something happens. The one that sticks out to me was in 2012, we were down 24-0 at halftime against San Diego and that was like the first time I actually got to see Peyton Manning take over a game. The fact that it was Monday night, it just made it that much more special. It was one of those games where so many people probably turned their TV off and the next thing I know, we win the game 35-24. There is something about playing in this game. It just has a different buzz to it."

On the Panthers' defensive scheme and what makes it difficult to crack: "I don't think you see too many teams where they'll stay with their base personnel when you put three wide receivers out there. Basically Shaq Thompson goes out there and covers the slot receiver, and he's done an unbelievable job out there. Just to see how athletic those guys are, I think it makes it tough on the offense. It's tough to run the ball and then it's tough to throw the ball. If you try to push the ball down the field, you have to have great protection and it's tough to hold up against that front. They can rush four or five and it's going to feel like an avalanche. They just cause a lot of problems. There's a lot of different pressures that they run that come from every different direction. They keep you off balance."