At some point, the Los Angeles Rams offense will have to find a way to come up clutch when the game is on the line because since their divisional loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2024-2025 playoffs, Matthew Stafford and the offense have only really delivered once (Week 4 vs. Indianapolis Colts). In Week 3, the offense stalled out in the second half. In Week 5, Kyren Williams fumbled the ball at the goal line. And now in Week 13, the offense had 3 giveaways to allow the Carolina Panthers to pull off the upset. How exactly did Carolina come away with the win? Here are 5 game defining plays that leave Sean McVay and the Rams leaving Charlotte, North Carolina at 9-3 instead of 10-2…
1. Matthew Stafford intercepted in redzone, (Rams 7 – Panthers 7), 4:07 left in 1st Quarter
The Rams drove the ball on the Panthers all afternoon. On their second possession, they moved the ball 60 yards on 6 plays. On play #7, Stafford tried to throw the ball in the middle of the endzone to Colby Parkinson but the ball was deflected off of Derrick Brown’s helmet and fell into the hands of former Ram Nick Scott. It was Stafford’s first interception in 10 weeks. His streak of touchdowns without an interception ended at 29 as he was unable to get to 30.
2. Matthew Stafford throws Pick 6, (Rams 7 – Panthers 14), 1:20 left in 1st Quarter
On back-to-back drives, Stafford turned the ball over. After the first interception, the Rams defense was able to get the ball back into the offense’s hands by forcing a three & out. However, four plays later, Stafford threw another interception. And this time Mike Jackson took it back to the house. It was this play that I think gave Carolina a lot of confidence that they could hang with the Rams for the rest of the afternoon.
3. Jalen Coker hauls in 33 yard touchdown on 4th & 3, (Rams 21 – Panthers 24), 8:48 left in the 3rd Quarter
The defense was able to put the Panthers offense in 15 third down situations. Carolina converted nearly half of them. Even when they didn’t, the Panthers were able to succeed on 4th down as well. After playing ball control to start the 3rd quarter and sucking up nearly 7 minutes of clock, Dave Canales elected to go for it on 4th & 3 from the LAR 33 as the rain began to come down harder at Bank of America Stadium. Bryce Young found Jalen Coker who got behind Emmanuel Forbes and put the Panthers ahead in the 2nd half.
4. Bryce Young finds Tetairoa McMillan on 4th & 2 for game winning touchdown, (Rams 28 – Panthers 31), 6:34 left in 4th Quarter
The second back-breaking play for the Rams defense was when the game at its climax. The defense tried and tried to get a stop but they could not get the game-changing play they needed. Credit to Bryce Young, he did a nice job of scanning his reads and then found rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan who beat Emmanuel Forbes on a crossing pattern while the Rams were in man coverage.
5. Stafford loses fumble on strip-sack; killing Rams chances at GW drive, (Rams 28 – Panthers 31), 2:25 left in 4th Quarter
Despite the Rams giving up 31 points, they still had a chance to win it on offense. They marched downfield for 42 yards on 9 plays and even got into the redzone. However, the following 3 plays happened leaving Rams fans ready to pull their hair out…
2nd & 6 at CAR 18 – Kyren Williams 1 yard run
3rd & 5 at CAR 17 – Delay of Game penalty
3rd & 10 at CAR 22 – Stafford sack-fumble
It was inexcusable for the Rams to not execute in such a high-leverage situation. They moved the ball all day on the Panthers aside from one drive in the 3rd quarter, and they shot themselves in the foot in the end.
Were there any other plays that defined the Rams Week 13 loss? Aside from not being able to stop the run all day…
Los Angeles will travel to Glendale, Arizona next Sunday to face the Arizona Cardinals in a must-win divisional game now that Seattle has beaten Minnesota in the late afternoon game.
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