After defeating the Arizona Cardinals, the Panthers will face the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks in an NFC Divisional Round Playoff on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET.
Below are some of head coach Ron Rivera's initial comments on the matchup.
On playing the Seattle Seahawks: They are the Super Bowl champions and have been playing their best football late in the season. They have a great home field advantage, but nothing comes easy at this stage of the playoffs. We will not be able to make some of the mistakes we made last week.
On if it is an advantage having already played the Seahawks this season: They have the same advantages, so it's not really a factor. We have played enough in the past that we are going to have a feel for them and they are going to have a feel for us. Our personnel is somewhat different, but I don't think it will impact the preparation.
On playing at Seattle: It is one of the toughest places in the NFL to play. You are playing a great team in front of a loud crowd. We benefitted from a great crowd against Arizona and now we will have to be ready for the other side of the coin. I do think playing on the road late in the season at New Orleans and Atlanta should help us because they were basically playoff games for us. We'll just have to deal with it. They are a good team wherever you play them.
On if wide receiver Philly Brown will play: He had an MRI and will be day-to-day.
On playing without any time off: I don't think it is a disadvantage because we seem to be in a good rhythm on both sides of the ball. As I said last week, I think our bye coming late ended up working to our benefit.
