The Rams are getting some significant players back as they prepare to face the Panthers for the first game of the 2025 postseason.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Sean McVay said in his Monday news conference that receiver Davante Adams and safety Quentin Lake are expected to return for Saturday’s wild card matchup.
Adams has been sidelined since aggravating a hamstring injury in Los Angeles’ Dec. 14 victory over Detroit. Though he played just 14 games this season, Adams still finished with a league-leading 14 touchdowns, having caught 60 passes for 789 yards.
Lake has been out with an elbow injury suffered in the Nov. 16 win over the Seahawks. The Rams did not have Lake when they lost to the Panthers in Week 13, and he should provide a significant boost to the club’s defensive unit.
Additionally, McVay noted that the Rams should have tight end Terrance Ferguson back after the club held him out for Sunday’s win over the Cardinals due to a hamstring injury.
Guard Kevin Dotson (ankle) is less certain to return for Saturday, McVay noted.
The Rams’ first injury report of the week is due out on Tuesday.
Home-field advantage might not mean much in the first round of the NFL playoffs.
Of the six games in the wild card round, the road teams are favored in four.
The biggest favorites are the Rams, who are 9.5-point favorites to beat the Panthers in Carolina. But that might be just fine with the Panthers: The Rams were previously 10-point favorites at Carolina in the regular season, but the Panthers won 31-28.
The Packers are 1.5-point favorites on the road in Chicago. It will be the third meeting of the two teams in the last six weeks after they played twice in December. The Bears beat the Packers 22-16 in overtime in Chicago in the regular season, while the Packers beat the Bears 28-21 in Green Bay.
The Bills are 1.5-point favorites against the Jaguars at Jacksonville. The Jaguars lost twice at home in the regular season.
The Eagles are 3.5-point favorites at home against the 49ers. The Eagles lost twice at home in the regular season.
The Patriots are 3.5-point favorites at home against the Chargers. The Patriots went 14-3 this season, but all three losses were at home.
The Texans are 3-point favorites on the road against the Steelers. The Steelers lost at home three times in the regular season.
If the betting lines are to be believed, only two division winners, the No. 2 seed Eagles and Patriots, will advance to the divisional round.
The NFL has announced the wild-card weekend schedule for Jan. 10-12:
Saturday, Jan. 10
4:30 p.m. 5 Los Angeles Rams at 4 Carolina Panthers (FOX, FOX Deportes)
8 p.m. 7 Green Bay Packers at 2 Chicago Bears (Prime Video)
Sunday, Jan. 11
1 p.m. 6 Buffalo Bills at 3 Jacksonville Jaguars (CBS, Paramount+)
4:30 p.m. 6 San Francisco 49ers at 3 Philadelphia Eagles (FOX, FOX Deportes)
8 p.m. 7 Los Angeles Chargers at 2 New England Patriots (NBC, Peacock, Universo)
Monday, Jan. 12
8 p.m. 5 Houston Texans at 4 Baltimore/Pittsburgh (ESPN/ABC/ESPN+/ ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2/ESPN+)
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Rams came away with a 37-20 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday to clinch the NFC’s No. 5 seed, setting up a rematch with the No. 4 Panthers next weekend.
Los Angeles had a 16-6 lead after a bit of a slow start on offense. But the Cardinals used a 14-point surge in the third quarter to go up 20-16 with 3:51 left in the period.
But the Rams responded well from there, with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Colby Parkinson giving L.A. a 23-20 advantage. Then Stafford hit Tight end Tyler Higbee for a 22-yard score early in the fourth quarter. The Rams scored a third straight touchdown when Stafford hit Parkinson again for a 1-yard score to go up by 17.
Seeking his first MVP award, Stafford finished 25-of-40 for 259 yards with four touchdowns — a nice bounce-back performance after Monday night’s loss to Atlanta. Stafford will finish as the NFL’s passing yards leader for the first time, as he overtook Dak Prescott to finish with 4,707.
Stafford also moved into No. 6 all-time in career completions and No. 7 all-time in career touchdown passes. He became the third player in league history to have multiple touchdown passes in 15 games in a single season.
Puka Nacua finished the game with 10 catches for 76 yards with a touchdown, giving him the league lead with 129 catches in 16 games. Cardinals tight end Trey McBride entered Week 18 tied atop the leaderboard in receptions with Nacua, but caught seven passes for 65 yards.
The Rams steadily pressured Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett through the contest, finishing with six sacks. Brissett was 22-of-31 for 243 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Los Angeles finishes the season 12-5, which puts the team at second place in the NFC West with a better common-games record than San Francisco and No. 5 in the conference. The Rams will be on the road to face the Panthers in the wild card round, as Carolina clinched the NFC South on Sunday with the Falcons’ win over the Saints.
The Cardinals end the 2025 season at 3-14 with plenty of questions surrounding their roster and coaching staff for the upcoming offseason.
The Falcons won their final game of the regular season and the Panthers did not, but the Panthers will be going to the playoffs as the NFC South champions.
Kirk Cousins threw a touchdown pass to Drake London in the first quarter and Zane Gonzalez made four field goals to propel the Falcons to a 19-17 home win over the Saints. That pushed them to 8-9 on the season and put them in a three-way tie with the Panthers and the Buccaneers at the top of the division.
The Panthers lost to the Bucs on Saturday, but prevailed in the three-way tiebreaker thanks to having the best record in games against the other two 8-9 teams.
Atlanta never trailed after London’s touchdown, but the Saints made it interesting in the final minutes. Rookie Tyler Shough made his last argument for the offensive rookie of the year award by hitting Ronnie Bell for a 16-yard touchdown with 1:11 left to play. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Falcons, however, and that was enough to send the Panthers on to the postseason.
Cousins was 18-of-32 for 180 yards and he also threw an interception during the win. His return to the lineup after Michael Penix’s injury ended with four straight wins and their were enough positives in the veteran’s play to think that he will have suitors in the offseason if the Falcons decide against moving forward with him as at least a contender for the starting role.
The Saints have no such questions. They fell short on Sunday, but won more than they lost after putting Shough in the lineup. He was 23-of-35 for 259 yards on Sunday and also ran three times for 34 yards and a touchdown in an outing that only solidified his spot as the quarterback of the present and future in New Orleans.
