The San Francisco 49ers are set to face the Carolina Panthers as they look for their first victory on the road. Here's what both teams had to say ahead of the Week 5 matchup:
Niners Liners
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on his takeaways from the Carolina Panthers most recent matchups:
"I see a team that could very easily be 4-0. There's only one game that they've won the turnover battle in and they pretty much dominated that game. Last week versus Arizona you see the end score and it doesn't look close, but they had every chance to win that and it was, I want to say 10-10 in the fourth quarter, 13-10. You look at Week 1 versus Cleveland, they had one turnover. Cleveland had none. They still got what you thought was the game-winning field goal with like 30 seconds on the clock, but Cleveland ended up hitting a 58-yarder to beat them with no time. You look at the Giants game, they turned the ball over on the opening kickoff, then the first third down. They lost that 19-16, a game I thought they should've won. You see a team that I think is playing really good defense. I think they have some talent on their offense. They've gotten in trouble just turning it over a little bit, which has hurt them... So I don't look at their record and think any differently."
Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans on Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey:
"Christian, he still has juice man, he still has a lot of juice. He's a big-time playmaker for them. Watch the tape. This kid is very explosive. It starts in the run game, teams have the run fitted up and he can find any small little crease and make them pay. So the first thing, we have to stop the run game. And then Christian still, he's great in the pass game as well, whether it's picking up protections as a blocker and also getting out in the screen game. He's just all over the field and an explosive player, so we have to have extra eyes on him the entire game because he can definitely make you pay if you're not on it and you're not ready."
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on his thoughts of the 49ers offensive line:
"Those guys, especially with the injuries, the mixing and matching that was going on, that's really impressive for a group of five guys like that to all be on the same page and do it as consistently versus a good D-line. I tip my hat. I love those guys. They did a great job and we just have to keep this thing rolling for this next week."
Panthers Quotes
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule on how he plans for his offense to match up against the 49ers:
"They have the best pass defense, a good pass rush. To me, it's just about trying to be balanced. It's about trying to take advantage of the players that we have who can make plays, the Christians, the DJs, the Robbies, our tight ends have been showing up in different ways. When we drop back to throw it, we just have to be on time and trust our guys and win versus tight coverage. Charvarius Ward has been playing excellent for them, so we just have to go play."
Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow on the 49ers offense:
"Their offense is all over the place. You don't know where they're going to be and obviously their wide receivers, those three guys, you don't know where they're going to be. They do a lot of different things for them and all three are just really tough to defend. I think George Kittle is healthy now so I think we'll see more of him in this ball game."
Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield on playing against the 49ers defense:
"It's a great challenge for us. Their defense is playing at an extremely, extremely, high level. They've made a deep playoff run and they've been consistent for years now so it's a great challenge for us. They're physical up front, their front seven obviously speaks for itself, the names they have and just how they're playing. They play consistently so it's a good challenge for us and we're looking forward to it. It's one of those weeks that you've got to know what you're facing and own up to it."
Mayfield on his familiarity with San Francisco:
"Some of the front players are the same to me. They play hard and they do what they do at an extremely high level. They've never been the most complex schematically because they just line up and beat you flat out because they play well and they do their jobs at a high level. There's a lot of differences, but we're in the moment right now and they're coming off a big division win and with a lot of confidence."
Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey on his mentality heading into the Week 5 contest:
"No matter what, we have to execute the play that's called at all times. They're really good, they fly to the ball well, they play well together. Obviously they have great pass rushers, good linebackers and a great secondary, so it's going to be a challenge."
