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The Los Angeles Rams are moving on to the NFC divisional round after defeating the Carolina Panthers 34-31 on Saturday.
After trading blows in the second half, the Panthers held a 31-27 lead with less than three minutes to play, hoping to win their first playoff game in 10 years. However, Stafford, an MVP candidate and first-team All-Pro selection, still had plenty of time remaining.
He led a seven-play, 71-yard drive, capping it with a beautiful 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson to give the Rams a three-point advantage with just 38 seconds to go. The Panthers went four-and-out on the ensuing possession, as their season came to a close.
Stafford finished 24-of-42 for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
The Rams fed off their defense early. After forcing a turnover on downs on the Panthers’ first possession, Stafford immediately targeted his fellow first-team All-Pro member, wide receiver Puka Nacua. Nacua had three receptions for 40 yards on the Rams’ first offensive drive, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown reception to give Los Angeles a 7-0 lead.
With Carolina moving the ball on its third possession, Cobie Durant picked off Bryce Young on a first-and-10 from the Rams’ 44. Seven plays later, Nacua was scoring his second touchdown of the first half — this time on a 5-yard backward pass by Stafford, which credited the score as a rushing touchdown to give the Rams a 14-0 lead.
Nacua finished with 10 catches for 111 yards to go with his two TDs.
The Rams had the Panthers, who were playing in their first playoff game since the 2017 season, on their heels.
But the Panthers responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter. Running back Chuba Hubbard capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to make it a 14-7 game. Then, two possessions later, Young outran Rams linebacker Nate Landman on a scramble up the middle for a 16-yard score, making it 17-14 Rams at the half.
The teams traded field goals in the third quarter before Stafford was picked off by the Panthers’ Mike Jackson. Two plays later, Young connected with Jalen Coker for a 52-yard catch-and-run to put Carolina deep in Rams territory. Then Hubbard capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, his second of the game, to give the Panthers their first lead, 24-20.
On the ensuing drive, Stafford marched the Rams 67 yards in 11 plays and found running back Kyren Williams on a 13-yard touchdown pass as the Rams retook the lead, 27-24.
Los Angeles, which had its share of special teams issues throughout the season, had a punt blocked by Isaiah Simmons with under five minutes to play, giving Carolina the ball deep in Rams territory with a chance to take a late lead. The Panthers took advantage, scoring a touchdown four plays later on a 7-yard pass by Young to Coker.
Coker, a 2024 undrafted rookie, picked a good time to have the best game of his young career, finishing with nine receptions for 134 yards and that touchdown.
Stafford, 37, adds another game-winning drive to his resume, as he helped extend the Rams’ season. They’ll await the results of this weekend’s games before knowing who they’ll face next.
Stafford delivers streaky, clutch performance
Stafford was named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in his 17-year career Saturday, right before he’d play a road playoff game against what he called arguably the best secondary the Rams have faced all season, with Mike Jackson and Pro Bowler Jaycee Horn on the outside.
He turned in a vintage Stafford performance. That is to say, he was dialed in during the script, starting 8-of-8 as he peppered the ball to Nacua. Then he had a stretch in the middle quarters in which he completed just 2 of 12 passes. It coincided with a play where he smacked his throwing hand on the helmet of a pass rusher.
He threw an interception on an underthrown ball, and he nearly threw another that Nacua had to break up in the end zone.
But he turned it up in the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives with his team trailing. He capped the first with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Williams after converting on fourth down with a QB sneak. Then he drove the Rams down in the final minutes with sharp passes to Nacua and Davante Adams before hitting Parkinson on a 19-yard touchdown pass in which the tight end skied the ball and spun into the end zone with 38 seconds to play.
This was the 42nd fourth-quarter comeback and 54th game-winning drive of Stafford’s career.
He was productive, composed and clutch despite some mistakes, which is what Stafford has always been. And now he has the Rams moving on to the divisional round for another season. — Nate Atkins, Rams beat writer
Soft coverage with Horn out for Rams’ final drive
The Panthers looked poised to pull the upset in their first home playoff game in 10 years after taking a four-point lead with less than three minutes left.
But they were shorthanded defensively for the Rams’ final drive, with Horn in the medical tent being evaluated for a concussion. With the secondary playing soft coverage to avoid the big play, Stafford took the Rams downfield, completing 6 of 7 passes for 71 yards. His only incompletion came on an Adams drop.
Despite good coverage by Tre’von Moehrig, Stafford dropped the game-winning, 19-yard touchdown over him and into the arms of Parkinson.
It was a valiant effort by the Panthers, who were 10-point underdogs and trailed by 14 in the first half. But they ultimately ended on a three-game losing streak, their longest skid of the season. — Joseph Person, Panthers beat writer
Special teams rear ugly head
The Rams have seen special teams mistakes play a role in nearly every loss this season. They were on high alert about them after the collapse in Seattle in Week 16 and fired coordinator Chase Blackburn with just two games to go.
But with a road path through the playoffs, the odds were always that these kinds of mistakes could end their season. They nearly did in this one. The Rams allowed a blocked punt while leading with fewer than five minutes to go, setting up Young’s 7-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to Coker.
They also had a personal foul from Desjuan Johnson and some timid returns from Xavier Smith, in addition to edge pressure that Harrison Mevis was able to ignore on a longer kick.
Los Angeles is moving on, but the conditions and crowds could only get tougher from here. It’s hard to imagine a fix at this point beyond some players returning from injury, so it puts pressure on the offense and defense to be that much better. — Atkins
Big game for Coker
Coker came up huge in his first playoff game, turning in the most prolific postseason debut ever by a Panthers receiver with nine catches for 134 yards — both career highs — and a touchdown.
Coker, undrafted out of Holy Cross in 2024, surpassed 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette as the WR2 in the regular-season finale at Tampa, a move that paid big dividends against the Rams. Coker’s touchdown was a thing of beauty — on a lofted ball by Young to the corner of the end zone — and it put the Panthers on top 31-27 with 2:39 left.
But it proved to be too much time for Stafford. — Person