The Panthers have pulled off a major upset, defeating the Rams 31-28 on a rainy day in Charlotte.
Carolina picked up three takeaways off of Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford — two of which came deep in Panthers territory — and got timely touchdowns on fourth downs to defeat the club that came in with the NFC’s best record.
Former Ram Nick Scott had the first interception off of Stafford, the quarterback’s first pick since Week 3, on a pass that went off the helmet of defensive tackle Derrick Brown at the line of scrimmage. Then cornerback Mike Jackson had a pick-six, returning it 48 yards to the end zone late in the first quarter.
Then Brown had the last takeaway, strip-sacking Stafford on third-and-10 from the Carolina 22 with just 2:34 left in the contest. If the Rams had not given the ball away at that point, the club would’ve had an opportunity to kick a game-tying field goal.
The Panthers sealed the victory with a 10-yard pass on third-and-5 from quarterback Bryce Young to Jalen Coker just ahead of the two-minute warning. Because Los Angeles had no more timeouts, Carolina took three knees to make the win official.
Young played well in the conditions, completing 15-of-20 passes for 206 yards with three touchdowns. He tossed a 33-yard touchdown to Coker on fourth-and-and 3 in the third quarter and a go-ahead 43-yard touchdown to Tetairoa McMillan on fourth-and-2 with 6:43 left in the final period.
The Panthers controlled the clock with the run, rushing 40 times for 164 yards on the day. Chuba Hubbard led with 83 yards on 17 carries while Rico Dowdle had 58 yards on 18 attempts. Hubbard also had two catches for 41 yards with a TD while Dowdle had two receptions for 21 yards.
The Rams also ran the ball well, but the turnovers helped negate that performance. Blake Corum had a career-high 81 yards on seven carries with Kyren Williams taking 13 carries for 72 yards. Both Williams and Corum had a touchdown.
Carolina’s victory over Los Angeles has consequences all over the NFC. At 7-6, the Panthers are a half-game back of Tampa Bay in the NFC South. They will have their bye in Week 14.
At 9-3, the Rams have fallen out of the NFC’s No. 1 seed — ceding that position to the Bears. Los Angeles will stay atop the NFC West even if Seattle defeats Minnesota on Sunday by virtue of the club’s head-to-head victory over the Seahawks earlier this year.
The Rams will be on the road to face the Cardinals in Week 14.
The Rams are back on top after one of their top players made one of the catches of the year.
Puka Nacua made an incredible one-handed catch deep down the left sideline for a 31-yard gain. On the next play, Kyren Williams ran it up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Nacua’s catch was the play of the day so far in the contest, as he elevated over Mike Jackson — who had good coverage — to palm the ball in his right hand. He then secured it while going to the ground before getting back up and adding a few more yards before he was tackled.
Nacua now has four receptions for 53 yards on the contest, but none of them were more consequential than that catch, as the Rams had done nothing in the second half before that possession.
Williams has 10 carries for 63 yards so far on Sunday. He was announced earlier in the contest as questionable with an ankle injury but has been able to overcome it.
The Panthers have been giving the Rams defense fits on Sunday and now Carolina has taken a three-point lead.
With an aggressive call on fourth-and-3, quarterback Bryce Young connected with receiver Jalen Coker for a 33-yard touchdown, going up 24-21.
The rain has started in Charlotte, which could make the run game that much more important in the second half. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Panthers leaned on the run game. But on fourth-and-3, Young looked deep for Coker, who got enough separation from Emmanuel Forbes for a big score.
Young is now 9-of-13 for 129 yards with two touchdowns on the day, with eyes on an upset.
While Kyren Williams was announced a questionable with an ankle injury, he was on the field for the Rams’ first possession of the second half.
While Matthew Stafford has thrown a pair of interceptions, the Rams still have a 21-17 lead over the Panthers at halftime.
Stafford had not thrown an interception since Week 3 when a red-zone pass went off Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown’s helmet and into the hands of safety Nick Scott. While Carolina didn’t score off of that interception, it did keep points off the board.
Then Stafford threw another interception, with Mike Jackson returning it 48 yards for a touchdown. At that point, Carolina had a 14-7 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter.
But aside from the end of the half, the Rams have only scored touchdowns when drives haven’t ended in an interception. L.A. capped its first possession with a 4-yard touchdown from Stafford to Davante Adams.
Then Adams caught another TD, reaching 14 on the season with his 7-yard reception early in the second quarter.
After Ryan Fitzgerald nailed a 33-yard field goal to put Carolina up 17-14, Blake Corum’s 2-yard touchdown run put the Rams back up by four points headed into halftime.
Los Angeles reached a couple of milestones in the first half, with Stafford breaking Tom Brady’s record with 28 consecutive TD passes with out an interception. He also moved to No. 8 all time in passing yards, surpassing Matt Ryan on the list.
Adams’ second touchdown also pushed him past Antonio Gates to No. 7 on the all-time list in TD receptions.
Stafford finished the first half 12-of-19 for 167 yards with two TDs and two picks.
On the other side, Bryce Young is 7-of-11 for 80 yards with a touchdown — a 35-yard swing pass to Chuba Hubbard in the first quarter. Young has also rushed for 27 yards on two attempts, including a 24-yard run.
The Panthers will receive the second-half kickoff.
Once again, Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams have connected for a touchdown.
This one tied the contest between the Rams and Panthers at 14-14 in the second quarter.
After Los Angeles’ last two possessions ended with Stafford interceptions, the Rams went 64 yards in seven plays to get in the end zone for the score.
Stafford started the drive with a 27-yard pass to Xavier Smith, putting the Rams in Carolina territory.
L.A. faced just one third down on the possession, which Stafford converted by rolling to his right and finding Adams open in the end zone for a 7-yard score.
Adams has now caught a league-leading 14 touchdowns in 2025. That’s tied for the second-highest total of his career, which he reached in 2022 with Las Vegas when he also led the league in the category.
