Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is getting looks as a head coaching candidate from multiple teams, but his current employer wants to hold onto him.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the Falcons have requested an interview with Evero. The Raiders also put in a request to speak to him on Sunday.
Evero finished his third season with the Panthers on Saturday and head coach Dave Canales said on Sunday that he “absolutely” wants Evero to remain on the staff in Carolina.
“I have complete trust in Ejiro,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “Love the way that he’s brought this group to play quality football together, and he’s got my full support. Love our scheme, love what we do there, and getting our guys to play together when we execute this scheme, it’s really difficult to play against, and the guys have found a way to play together, communicate together.”
Evero will be able to have a virtual interview with the Falcons, Raiders and any other interested teams this week. Any in-person interviews for coaches currently employed by other teams will not happen until after the divisional round of the playoffs.
Panthers Clips
The Raiders have added Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to their list of head coaching candidates.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that they have requested an interview with Evero. The Panthers lost to the Rams on Saturday, so Evero is now free for a remote first interview this week and for a second, in-person interview after the divisional round.
Evero has been the coordinator in Carolina since the 2023 season and helped them go from allowing an NFL-record 534 points in 2024 to allowing 380 en route to the playoffs this season. Evero, who has been involved in other head coaching searches in recent years, has also worked with the Broncos, Rams, 49ers, and Buccaneers.
The Raiders fired Pete Carroll after one season and they are looking for their fifth permanent head coach since the start of the 2021 season.
The Panthers are feeling excited about what they can do in 2026 after returning to the playoffs this season, but running back Rico Dowdle may not be back for another year in Charlotte.
Dowdle signed a one-year deal with the Panthers as a free agent in the offseason and opened the year behind Chuba Hubbard in the backfield pecking order. He put up 473 yards from scrimmage when Hubbard missed time with an injury in October, but saw his usage fluctuate over the rest of the season. In Saturday’s loss to the Rams, Dowdle had five carries for nine yards while Hubbard had 13 carries for 46 yards and two touchdowns.
On Sunday, Dowdle said that his projected role is going to be a significant consideration when it comes to where he plays next season.
“That definitely is a factor,’' Dowdle said, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “There’s options for me. I just want to be a guy who can go out there and just get the bulk.”
Dowdle finished the season with 236 carries for 1,076 yards and six touchdowns. It was his second straight 1,000-yard season and it sounds like he may be going for three in a row for three different teams.
Panthers left tackle Ikem Ekwonu played only eight snaps in Saturday’s wild-card playoff loss to the Rams. He could miss more time to start the 2026 season.
Ekwonu underwent an MRI on his right knee on Sunday, and it showed a ruptured patellar tendon, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The injury will require surgery, and it threatens his availability for regular-season games next season.
Head coach Dave Canales called the injury “significant” in his postgame news conference.
Veteran Yosh Nijman replaced Ekwonu.
Ekwonu missed the game against the Buccaneers on Dec. 21 with a knee issue. He missed the season opener while recovering from a preseason appendectomy.
The Panthers exercised the fifth-year option on Ekwonu’s contract for the 2026 season.
The Panthers couldn’t hold onto a late lead against the Rams, so their season came to an end with a 34-31 home loss on Saturday.
While that was a painful way to go out, the mood in the Panthers locker room was not totally dejected. The team finished 2-15 in 2023 and went 5-12 in 2024 before winning the division with an 8-9 record this year.
A losing record isn’t the sign of a total breakout, but head coach Dave Canales said that the season has been about creating the belief that the Panthers “belong in these games” and defensive lineman Derrick Brown said that the experience has led to different expectations for 2026.
“We want the message to be, man, this is the standard now,” Brown said, via the team’s website. “We want to play playoff football here. We want the Bank to be sold out every weekend, and you know we got to give them a show if that’s what we want.”
The growth the Panthers showed in 2025 isn’t guaranteed to continue next season, so the Panthers can’t afford to rest on their laurels once they get back to work on taking the next step up the NFL ladder.
Matthew Stafford’s Saturday started with him being named a first-team All-Pro and he closed it with the kind of performance that showed why he’s a frontrunner for the NFL’s biggest award.
With the Rams down 31-27 late in the fourth quarter, Stafford went 6-of-7 for 71 yards on a go-ahead touchdown drive. The final throw of the drive was a 19-yard dart to tight end Colby Parkinson and Parkinson made a twisting catch while falling into the end zone.
After the game, wide receiver Davante Adams said Stafford started the final drive by telling the offense “let’s go snatch these guys’ hearts.”
“That was pretty cold, just to hear that,” Adams said, via the team’s website. “And I actually literally smiled in the moment, because I thought that was like one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment, honestly. And to hear him say that, and the look on his on his face, and then throw the touchdown, and then the look on his face after that, was just MVP stuff.”
Stafford was 12-of-15 for 143 yards and two touchdowns over the entire fourth quarter, but none of those heroics will count toward an MVP vote that was already closed before the game kicked off. While it remains to be seen if Stafford will win that prize, Saturday’s performance provided reason to think bigger trophies might still be coming the Rams’ way this season.
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.
