The Rams had a lot of things go in their favor in the first half, but they have just a 17-14 lead over the Panthers at halftime.
Though Los Angeles was a heavy favorite entering Saturday’s game, Carolina has been able to hang around, particularly making a couple of key plays late in the half.
While Trevor Etienne muffed a punt that the Rams recovered with a chance to increase their lead in the second quarter, there ended up being no damage done. Matthew Stafford’s pass on fourth-and-3 from the Carolina 19 to Tyler Higbee was low, broken up, and incomplete.
From there, the Panthers went 81 yards in just five plays to cut the Rams’ lead to just three points. Bryce Young connected with Jalen Coker for a 37-yard pass down to the 16-yard line. From there, Young evaded pressure on third-and-10 and ran it into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown.
The Rams looked like they would at least get points in response when Stafford tossed a deep ball to Puka Nacua down the right sideline. But the usually sure-handed receiver dropped it to keep the score at 17-14.
Young was 11-of-20 for 151 yards with an interception in the first half.
Stafford was 10-of-17 for 137 yards with one touchdown in the first 30 minutes. Nacua caught six of his 10 targets for 63 yards with one touchdown. He also had a 5-yard touchdown on what was a backward pass from Stafford that gave the Rams a 14-0 lead at the time.
On the injury front, Panthers right guard Robert Hunt is questionable to return with a pectoral injury. Austin Corbett came in to replace him. Carolina is also down left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, who is out with a knee injury suffered during the first quarter.
With momentum on the Panthers side, the Rams will get the ball first to start the second half. While they have 214 yards, the Rams have gone just 1-of-6 on third down. Improving that mark will be key to staving off a big upset in the wild card round.
