CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s a reason Matthew Stafford is the favorite to win his first NFL most valuable player award.
The Rams quarterback, a 17th-year pro, produced his finest statistical season, leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes.
But Stafford is mainly known for engineering comebacks.
And he did it again Saturday when the Rams needed it most.
Stafford’s 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds left gave the Rams a 34-31 victory over the Carolina Panthers in an NFC wild-card game at Bank of America Stadium.
It wasn’t easy — far from it — but the Rams outlasted the Panthers to advance to the divisional round. They won’t know their opponent until Sunday’s wild-card games are complete, but they probably need the time to breathe a sigh of relief.
On a night when he struggled after his throwing hand hit the helmet of a Panthers player, Stafford harked to the 2021 season, when he brought the Rams back several times in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl title.
Stafford completed 24 of 42 passes for 304 yards and tossed touchdown passes to Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams and Parkinson. He had one pass intercepted.
Stafford at one point missed on seven consecutive attempts, the longest such streak of his playoff career. But during the winning drive he completed six of seven passes.
Nacua also ran for a touchdown and caught 10 passes for 111 yards. Davante Adams, playing for the first time since sustaining a hamstring with three games left in the regular season, caught five passes for 72 yards.
Harrison Mevis kicked two field goals and Cobie Durant intercepted a pass for the Rams.
The Rams went into Saturday’s game as a 10½ point-favorite over a Panthers team that won the lowly NFC South with an 8-9 record.
But they had overcome numerous missed opportunities to avenge their Nov. 30 loss to the Panthers, a 31-28 defeat that ended the Rams six-game winning streak and knocked them out of the No. 1 seed.
In that game, Stafford had two passes intercepted, one that was returned for a touchdown, and also lost a fumble and was responsible for a critical delay-of-game penalty.
On Saturday, Stafford completed his first seven passes but thereafter struggled, especially after hurting his throwing hand.
The Rams also failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities.
They came up empty after recovering a muffed punt in the second quarter, and the Panthers responded with a touchdown drive.
Near the end of the first half, Nacua was wide open down the right sideline for a touchdown that would have increased the Rams’ lead to 10 points. But the ball bounced off Nacua’s hands and fell incomplete.
It was one of numerous drops by the Rams.
The Rams led 17-14 at halftime on Nacua’s 14-yard touchdown catch, Nacua’s five-yard touchdown run and Mevis’ 46-yard field goal.
But the Rams should have been in better control after taking a 14-0 lead on Nacua’s scoring plays.
They were ahead, 17-7, late in the second quarter when they were forced to punt. Trevor Etienne of the Panthers muffed the catch and Rams linebacker Troy Reeder recovered the ball for the Rams.
The offense, however, could not convert the miscue into points. Earlier, McVay’s decision to kick a field goal rather than going for it on fourth down paid off. This time, with just more than 90 seconds left in the first half, he went for it on fourth and three at the Panthers’ 19-yard line.
Stafford’s pass under pressure to tight end Tyler Higbee fell incomplete, giving the Panthers a chance to cut the deficit.
Young moved the Panthers 81 yards in 54 seconds and pulled the Panthers to within three points with a 16-yard touchdown run.
The Rams had a chance to score again, but Nacua dropped Stafford’s pass.
It didn’t get better after the halftime break.
The Rams ran three plays — all incomplete passes intended for Adams — and the Panthers consumed seven minutes of the clock before Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a field goal that tied the score.
On the ensuing possession, Adams went to the medical tent after being hit by safety Nick Scott, who was penalized for unnecessary roughness. Mevis’ 46-yard field goal put the Rams back in the lead.
But late in the third quarter, Mike Jackson intercepted a Stafford pass, and Young then connected with Jalen Coker for a 52-yard pass that set up Chuba Hubbard’s short touchdown run early in the fourth quarter that gave the Panthers a 24-20 lead.
Williams’ 13-yard touchdown reception put the Rams back in the lead with under nine minutes left.
But the Panthers blocked a punt with about four minutes left, and Young found Coker for a touchdown that gave the Panthers a 31-27 lead with 2:39 left.
That set the stage for Stafford.
The post Matthew Stafford orchestrates another Rams comeback in playoff win over Panthers appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
