Panthers quarterback Bryce Young lost his first playoff start on Saturday, but he impressed head coach Dave Canales.
Asked to describe Young’s performance, Canales said, “Gritty. Just gritty. Tough.”
Canales acknowledged that Young threw a bad interception but said that Young gave the Panthers a chance to win against a good Rams pass rush.
“He made plays, he extended the play, found guys downfield consistently, ran a touchdown in,” Canales said. “I just can’t say enough about the way Bryce stepped up and played in this game.”
When Canales was hired two years ago, the Panthers were coming off a 2-15 season and there were serious questions about whether they had made a mistake by trading up to select Young first overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Saturday’s loss was a disappointment, but the Panthers now think they have the right quarterback in place. And the right head coach in place.
In the first half of Saturday’s playoff win against the Panthers, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford jammed his hand against a defender. While it clearly seemed to bother him, it also didn’t seem to affect him.
After the game, Stafford was asked about the injury by reporters.
“I got a finger bent back,” Stafford said. “They saw it on the TV, on the sideline or whatever. I didn’t, obviously, know exactly what had happened. It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t great. We’ll see what it is. Was obviously able to finish the game and throw it decent. You know, once the ball’s snapped, the adrenaline’s pretty good. So we’ll hopefully, you know, just keep it going.”
While Stafford has a long reputation for playing through injuries, if his finger swells up or tightens, it could be a challenge to throw the ball in the divisional round.
For the game, Stafford completed 24 of 42 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He now has eight straight playoff games with multiple touchdown passes, matching Joe Flacco for the second longest streak in league history.
Next weekend, Stafford will have a chance to catch Aaron Rodgers for the all-time record of nine. Barring a second-half turnaround by the Bears against the Packers, it’ll happen either at Philadelphia or at home against the 49ers.
When it comes to the postseason, all that matters is the final score.
While the Panthers entered wild card weekend as significant underdogs, they didn’t play like it — giving the Rams all they could handle to open the 2025 postseason.
But in the end, the Rams survived and advanced, as Los Angeles defeated Carolina, 34-31.
The Rams built a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, but the Panthers scored a pair of touchdowns in the period. With an L.A. field goal, the Rams were up 17-14 at halftime.
After the two teams traded field goals in the third quarter, Carolina took its first lead of the contest early in the fourth with a 3-yard run by Chuba Hubbard. The Rams came back to go up 27-24 with Matthew Stafford’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Williams.
But then the special teams issues that have plagued L.A. all season once again came up, as Isaiah Simmons blocked a punt to set up the Panthers at the Rams’ 30-yard line. Bryce Young connected with Jalen Coker for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 31-27 lead with just 2:39 on the clock.
That, however, was plenty of time for Stafford and the Rams, who steadily got the ball into Carolina territory. Though Stafford struggled at points in the contest, he delivered a catchable ball on the right side to tight end Colby Parkinson, who made an outstanding play to come down with it, get two feet in, and break the plane for a go-ahead score.
While the Panthers got the ball back with three timeouts, they had just 32 seconds left from their own 28. Young threw four straight incompletions for a final turnover on downs, with the Rams securing the victory.
Stafford ended the contest 24-of-42 for 304 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Nacua led L.A. with 10 catches and 111 yards, scoring two touchdowns on the day — one receiving and one rushing. In his first game back from a hamstring injury, Davante Adams finished with five receptions for 72 yards.
Young played well, finishing the contest 21-of-40 for 264 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had a 16-yard touchdown run late in the first half. Jalen Coker caught nine passes for 134 yards with a TD. Star rookie Tetairoa McMillan finished with five catches for 81 yards.
With the win, the Rams will advance to the divisional round. Los Angeles will find out its next opponent with the result of Sunday’s matchup between No. 6 San Francisco and No. 3 Philadelphia.
The Rams are back on top.
After going down 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, Matthew Stafford connected with Kyren Williams for a 13-yard touchdown to put Los Angeles up 27-24 over Carolina with 8:47 left in regulation.
The touchdown capped an 11-play, 67-yard drive that took 5:47 off the clock.
Davante Adams had the chunk play on the drive, catching a pass over the middle for a 23-yard gain to put the Rams in Panthers territory.
After Puka Nacua had to break up a near-interception from Stafford in the end zone, the Rams converted fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard run by Williams. Then Stafford converted the next third-and-1 with a rare QB sneak.
A play later, Stafford hit Williams over the middle for the score to give the Rams a three-point lead.
The Panthers have scored on two of their three second-half possessions. We’ll see if they put up more points on their fourth.
Don’t look now, but the Panthers have a fourth-quarter lead.
After Mike Jackson picked off Matthew Stafford on third-and-long, Chuba Hubbard put the ball in the box for his second touchdown to give Carolina a 24-20 lead with 14:34 remaining in the contest.
Jackson undercut a route to the left by Davante Adams to intercept Stafford. He also had a pick-six off of Stafford during the Panthers’ regular-season victory over the Rams.
Bryce Young then hit Jalen Coker with a 52-yard pass to end the third quarter, setting the Panthers up inside the Los Angeles 10.
A couple of plays later, Hubbard was in the end zone to give Carolina its first lead of the contest.
Since the Panthers muffed a punt late in the second quarter, they have thoroughly outplayed the Rams. We’ll see if they can keep it up to pull off a major upset to start wild card weekend.
