The Carolina Panthers' reward for knocking out two-time defending NFC champ Seattle is a date next Sunday night with No. 2 seed Arizona. Winner books a ticket to the Super Bowl.

The NFC Championship will feature two very different teams than the ones who met in the Wild Card round last January. Armed with eight fewer regular-season wins than they had this year, the Panthers beat the Cardinals, who were forced to start third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley.

This year the Cardinals have a healthy Carson Palmer coming off a season when he set career highs with 4,761 passing yards and 35 touchdown passes. His favorite target, 12-year veteran Larry Fitzgerald, proved he has plenty left in the tank when he tore up the Packers Saturday night for 176 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

"The guy is crafty," Panthers cornerback Josh Norman said after the Panthers eliminated Seattle. "What's the saying? The older you get the finer the wine. Is that what it is? The man is balling and he's doing it at a high level."

The Panthers held Fitzgerald to three receptions and 31 yards a year ago, but that had a lot to do with Lindley. Six years earlier in a divisional round game in Charlotte, former Carolina coach John Fox stubbornly refused to double team Fitzgerald, who ran through the Panthers' defense for 166 yards and a touchdown.

Fitzgerald is just one of Palmer's arsenal of weapons. The Cardinals also have speedster John Brown, the reliable Michael Floyd, dynamic rookie running back David Johnson and a tremendous head coach.

"Bruce Arians is an offensive-minded artist, let's just say it like that," Panthers safety Kurt Coleman said. "He's very smart. He's going to come up with some stuff for us."

Defensively, the Cardinals finished top-10 in points allowed (tied for 7th), yards allowed (5th) and against the rush (6th) and pass (8th). Arizona also forced 16.7 percent of its opponents' drives to end in turnovers, second-best in the NFL behind Carolina (19.4 percent).

"It’s going to be a great game," Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said. "I peeked at the game last night. We understand that we can’t wait for anyone to make plays for us. That’s what it’s going to come down to. The team that’s executing and makes the least amount of mistakes."

 

NOTABLE NUGGETS

 

–The Panthers lead the overall series, 9-5, including a 1-1 record in the postseason.

 

–The Cardinals are 7-8 all-time in the postseason (5-0 home, 2-8 away).

 

–The Cardinals won their only other appearance in the NFC Championship, 32-25 over the Eagles in 2008.

 

–Palmer is 3-1 in his career against the Panthers.

 

–Offense

Points Scored: CAR 500 (1st), ARI 489 (2nd)
Total Yards: CAR 366.9/game (11th), ARI 408.3/game (1st)
Point Differential: CAR +192 (1st) , ARI +176 (2nd)

 

–Defense

Points Allowed: CAR 19.2 (6th ), ARI 19.6 (t7th)
Yard Allowed: CAR 322.9 (6th), ARI 321.7 (5th)
Takeaways: CAR 39 (1st), ARI 33 (2nd)
Turnover Margin: CAR +20 (1st), ARI +9 (4th)