The Arizona Cardinals travel to Bank of America Stadium to face the top-seeded Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship for the right to play in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers finished the 2015 season with the best record in the entire NFL at 15-1, and head coach Ron Rivera will look for his high-scoring offense to get off to a hot start at home on Sunday. The Panthers offense scored the most points in the league this year, but Arizona's offense finished second in points and first in yards, making Sunday's Championship game a matchup of two powerhouse offenses.
The Cardinals are coming off a huge win in overtime over the Green Bay Packers, and head coach Bruce Arians has his team completely focused on the biggest game of their season. Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is looking for his first road playoff win in his career, and he is having a career season in Arizona. Palmer earned his first playoff win of his career over the Packers last weekend and had 349 passing yards and three touchdowns to two interceptions.
Arians and Palmer both know the importance of ball security in the matchup, as both teams do not want to give the opposing offense and second chances to score points. Palmer has plenty of talented weapons to target in Sunday's NFC Championship game, and expect the Cardinals quarterback to look to get veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald involved early.
Fitzgerald has played his entire 12-year career in Arizona and has posted seven 1,000-plus yard receiving seasons, including the 2015 season. The Cardinals offense has one of the best receiving cores in football, and the combination of Fitzgerald and wide receivers John Brown and Michael Floyd is a difficult task for any defense to cover.
Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly is a leader on the field for the Panthers defense and will look to have his teammates lined up correctly, as he will continue to have mental chess match with Palmer throughout Sunday. Kuechly led the Panthers with tackles this season despite missing three games earlier in the year, and he had recorded 118 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and four interceptions during the regular season.
Kuechly made his presence immediately felt in last Sunday's divisional round matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, as he had an interception returned for a touchdown in the first quarter. Kuechly and cornerback Josh Norman are two key playmakers on the defensive side of the ball for Carolina and will both look to capitalize on any mistakes Arizona commits on Sunday.
On offense, quarterback Cam Newton has been nothing short of sensational this season, throwing a career-high 35 touchdowns passes with an all-time low in 11 turnovers during the 2015 season. Newton has taken his passing game to another level this year but is still a dual threat behind center and can easily pick up first downs with his feet.
Newton will look to target star tight end Greg Olsen and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. in Sunday's anticipated NFC Championship game. Olsen led the Panthers with 77 receptions for 1,104 receiving yards this season and caught Newton's only touchdown pass last week against Seattle.
Both teams have dynamic quarterbacks who were both selected as the top pick in their respective draft classes, but Sunday's matchup could come down to defense, as slowing down these high-powered offenses will likely make the difference on Championship Sunday.
Where To Watch: Fox at 6:40 p.m. Eastern time.
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