{"id":120738,"date":"2026-01-05T12:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120738\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:59:08","slug":"rams-hope-quentin-lake-will-help-them-shut-down-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120738\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams hope Quentin Lake will help them shut down Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quentin Lake<\/a>, the Rams\u2019 defensive captain, could be the catalyst that helps mend the Rams<\/a>\u2019 tattered secondary ahead of their wild-card showdown with the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Through the first 11 weeks of the season, the Rams held opponents to 17.2 points per game, just behind the Houston Texans as the NFL\u2019s second-best defense. Over the seven games Lake missed since sustaining a dislocated elbow against the Seahawks in November<\/a>, the Rams gave up an average of 24.8 points per game.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old safety, who is expected to make his return against Carolina, has proven to be a cornerstone<\/a> on the Rams\u2019 defense with his leadership skills and personal versatility.<\/p>\n

Lake has also endeared himself to his teammates, as evidenced by Kobie Turner<\/a>\u2018s widened smile when Lake\u2019s name came up with reporters following the Rams\u2019 37-20 win<\/a> over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cCaptain Q,\u201d said Turner, who played a role in helping the Rams record six sacks against the Cardinals. \u201cThere\u2019s not really words that can explain \u2014 you turn on the tape and you see exactly what he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added safety Kamren Kitchens: \u201cHim being off the field, you know, of course, I wouldn\u2019t say, a letdown \u2014 but it\u2019s Q, right? He brings that extra juice that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lake may be the \u201cjuice\u201d that helps the Rams stop a repeat of the explosive plays that Bryce Young orchestrated in the Panthers\u2019 31-28 win over the Rams<\/a> on Nov. 30. Young connected on touchdown passes of 35, 33 and 43 yards in that game.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Cardinals also had success against the Rams\u2019 secondary. Quarterback Jacoby Brissett connected with receiver Michael Wilson \u2014 who stutter-stepped, before bursting past cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon \u2014 on a 43-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

The play ultimately went down as a bend-don\u2019t-break moment for the Rams, one in which coach Sean McVay said he was glad his team got \u201cpushed.\u201d But it was a reminder of how explosive plays have compromised comfortable victories for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make a few plays, you get beat sometimes,\u201d Witherspoon said. \u201cBut it\u2019s all about how you respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Response is on outside linebacker Jared Verse\u2019s mind. Verse, who recorded 7\u00bd sacks this season, still had the five-week-old Carolina loss fresh in his mind Sunday. He pointed to running back Chuba Hubbard\u2019s 35-yard screen-pass touchdown from that game as a lesson \u2014 and reminder \u2014 for the Rams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a natural thing,\u201d Verse said. \u201cIf a team gets you, a team beats you, you always want to get them back. We\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carolina (8-9) offers an enticing chance for the Rams to prove they can be a force again on defense with Lake back in the lineup. The Panthers averaged the sixth-fewest points per game (18.3) in the NFL and the seventh-fewest passing yards per game (179).<\/p>\n

There likely won\u2019t be room for errors in judgment, however, if the Rams are going to move on to the divisional round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quentin Lake, the Rams\u2019 defensive captain, could be the catalyst that helps mend the Rams\u2019 tattered secondary ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6439,39782,18620,11055,63602,423,29917,48,52,51,47,50,49,43965,1417,37498,11706,10947,63601,776,427],"class_list":["post-120738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-bryce-young","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-explosive","tag-extra-juice","tag-game","tag-kobie-turner","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-panthers","tag-point","tag-quentin-lake","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-second-best-defense","tag-sunday","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}