{"id":671120,"date":"2026-01-12T10:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671120\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T10:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:04:19","slug":"best-and-worst-from-playoff-loss-to-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671120\/","title":{"rendered":"Best and worst from playoff loss to Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jan. 11, 2026, 2:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/carolina-panthers\/364\" data-autotag=\"8afac4d1-41b4-4302-b154-b45f5b48a0d2\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Carolina Panthers<\/a> gave it just about everything they had on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">They played through numerous injuries, they dug out of double-digit deficits and they had a Super Bowl favorite on the ropes. Heck, they even <a href=\"http:\/\/pantherswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/panthers\/2026\/01\/10\/nfl-world-reacts-to-cam-newtons-heart-pounding-return-to-carolina\/88120454007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rolled out<\/a> franchise legend Cam Newton to hype up the crowd right before kickoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But unfortunately, all of that wasn&#8217;t enough\u2014as they fell to the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/los-angeles-rams\/343\" data-autotag=\"f489e821-d3f9-4cff-bec5-7eaa0f4b51cb\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Los Angeles Rams<\/a> in a heartbreaking <a href=\"http:\/\/pantherswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/panthers\/2026\/01\/10\/panthers-rams-game-recap-wild-card-playoffs\/88123993007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">34-31 loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">So, with the last game in the books, let&#8217;s look to Pro Football Focus and give you the rundown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Here are the team&#8217;s best and worst PFF grades from the wild-card round defeat . . .<\/p>\n<p>Expert NFL picks: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (nfl)|e|auto spike click:4|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/picks\">Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">*Players listed recorded at least 10 offensive or 10 defensive snaps.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_gl gnt_em__el\" href=\"http:\/\/pantherswire.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/sports\/nfl\/panthers\/2026\/01\/11\/panthers-rams-nfl-playoffs-photos\/88127859007\/\" data-t-l=\"\u2691g:l|l|c|view gallery:inline promo\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - Gallery: Best photos from Panthers&#039; playoff loss to Rams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/88127858007-2255607154.jpg\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\"\/><\/a>Best of the offense<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">1. LG Damien Lewis: 81.1<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">2. WR Jalen Coker: 79.0<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">3. RB Chuba Hubbard: 75.9<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">4. WR Tetairoa McMillan: 72.1<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">5. RT Taylor Moton: 71.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Lewis earned a team-best 82.4 run-blocking grade. Moton, meanwhile, led the way in pass blocking (83.2).<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Coker notched nine receptions for a game-high 134 yards and a touchdown. McMillan added five catches for 81 yards.<\/p>\n<p>Worst of the offense<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">12. RB Rico Dowdle: 52.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">13. WR Xavier Legette: 51.7<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">14. WR Jimmy Horn Jr.: 42.9<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">15. TE Mitchell Evans: 37.9<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">16. RG Austin Corbett: 34.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Dowdle rushed just five times for nine yards. Legette was also quiet, reeling in one catch for eight yards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Corbett was given a 0.0 pass-blocking grade. He was charged with two pressures over eight opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Best of the defense<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">1. CB Mike Jackson: 90.4<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">2. OLB Princely Umanmielen: 83.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">3. DL Bobby Brown III: 80.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">4. OLB D.J. Wonnum: 71.2<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">5. OLB Trevis Gipson: 70.2<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Jackson tallied four passes defensed and an interception of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Per PFF, he allowed just one catch for 18 yards over seven targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Gipson, with three pressures, received a team-best 90.3 pass-rushing mark.<\/p>\n<p>Worst of the defense<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">13. DL A&#8217;Shawn Robinson: 48.2<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">14. CB Chau Smith-Wade: 48.1<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">15. S Lathan Ransom: 39.6<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">16. ILB Claudin Cherelus: 34.6<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">17. S Nick Scott: 30.8<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Cherelus was picked on in the passing game. He allowed four receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown on four targets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Scott was also saddled with a touchdown. He relinquished five catches for 79 yards on seven looks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Follow\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ThePanthersWire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">@ThePanthersWire<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter\/X for more Panthers content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 11, 2026, 2:15 p.m. ET The Carolina Panthers gave it just about everything they had on Saturday.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[95878,235,260,2567,7,6,236,97114,97115,97702,95882,96059,97703,97057,97699,97061,95924,95927,97272,95888,95895,97271,95899,97040,96008,95902,95883,97701,97700,95894,97059,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-671120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-carolinapanthers","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-panthers","15":"tag-sstssportsnflpanthers","16":"tag-sstsnpanthers","17":"tag-tagashawn-robinson","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagcarolina-panthers","20":"tag-tagchau-smith-wade","21":"tag-tagchuba-hubbard","22":"tag-tagdamien-lewis","23":"tag-tagjalen-coker","24":"tag-taglos-angeles-rams","25":"tag-tagmatthew-stafford","26":"tag-tagmike-jackson","27":"tag-tagnfl","28":"tag-tagnfl-hub","29":"tag-tagnick-scott","30":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","31":"tag-tagrico-dowdle","32":"tag-tagsmg-listicle","33":"tag-tagsport-scores-statistics","34":"tag-tagsports-news","35":"tag-tagtaylor-moton","36":"tag-tagtrevis-gipson","37":"tag-tagtwitter","38":"tag-tagxavier-legette","39":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}