- Story of the Game – Rams Survive Their Own Mistakes
From the very beginning of this game and through the majority of the 1st half it seemed like this was headed towards a fairly predictable outcome of the Rams fire power just being too much for Carolina to handle. Carolina came out on their first drive and turned the ball over on downs near midfield and Nacua and Stafford quickly made their presence with an efficient and seemingly effortless drive with 3 catches and TD for Nacua. Things continued to spiral as Carolina’s young talented LT Ikem Ekwonu went down with a game ending injury and later on that drive Young and Coker had a miscommunication that led to an interception and stalled what looked to be a scoring drive for Carolina. The Rams continued their dominance as Carolina looked completely outmatched up front and had no answer for Nacua on the backend. But throughout the dominance of the Rams 1st Half you started to see small mistakes that began to pile up and become more and more costly for the Rams. All of the sudden through a few penalties, mistakes, and adjustments from Carolina’s defense Young and this youthful Carolina offense drove down and punched in a touchdown on a Young scramble that flipped this game on its head and put Carolina down only 3 (14 – 17) heading into half. The struggling Rams offense came out in the 2nd half and had no answer for the surging and energetic Carolina defense that was all of the sudden crating pressure on blitzes and playing physical man to man on the backend. Young and Carolina continued to chip away and eventually took the lead following a FG on their opening drive of the half and an interception from Mike Jackson. Suddenly the Rams were on their back foot and having to lean on Stafford to win this game which he answered to with a shaky but still effective drive down the field that moved them up 27 – 24. After a stop by the Rams defense Stafford and the Rams offense looked to try and close the game out but a holding penalty (9th penalty of the game on LAR) moved them back and eventually led to two check downs and punt. That punt proved costly as the Rams special teams failed them once again and Carolina took advantage of poor protection and came up with a block that gave them the ball on the Rams 30 yard line. Young and McMillan took full advantage with a RPO slant that moved them inside the Rams 15 and after a strong run from Hubbard Young found Coker in the back of the end zone to move them up 31 – 27 heading into the 2:00 warning. But despite all of the issues for the Rams up to this point Stafford and company showed their experience by driving down and finding a way to score following an excellent catch by TE Colby Parkinson at the pylon and leaving only :38 for Young and the Panthers offense to answer. The moment and situation proved to be too much as the Rams got pressure on Young and following a dropped pass on 4th & 10 by rookie WR Jimmy Horn Jr the game was over. An incredible showing from Carolina and a game for the Rams to learn from
- Key Notes for the Rams
The Rams did their best to give this game away in a number of ways but above all else their issues with penalties in all phases and mistakes on special teams nearly cost them this game. They cost themselves 83 yards on 9 penalties throughout the game and on special teams they had a blocked punt that ultimately led to Carolina punching in the go ahead touchdown late in the 4th Quarter. Just a disappointing performance from a discipline and execution stand point for a team that has high hopes coming into the postseason. The good news is I expect them to have a much more buttoned up performance from a penalty and discipline standpoint moving forward in the playoffs under McVay but I can’t say I have the same hope for special teams. Whether it’s on punt coverage, kickoff coverage, kick return, or any other unit of special teams you want to point to this team has struggled in every way imaginable throughout the year and their opening playoff game was no better. The only group you can feel okay about in my opinion would be their field goal unit as they’ve improved since adding Harrison Mevis at kicker but moving forward if this team gets into another close battle a game like today from their special teams units could be all of the difference.
The Rams OL was phenomenal in the earlier part of this game. They controlled the LOS in pass protection and truly highlighted the lack of talent on the Carolina front and outside of Derrick Brown moved Carolina’s front off the ball in the run game. But as the game developed some flaws started to pop up along their front. Carolina started to bring pressure looks from all sides and it really gave the Rams trouble. While they still struggled to win one on one reps up front Carolina found success in freeing up blitzers with stunts and overload blitzes to one side or the other. Along with the struggles in blitz pick up Derick Brown and the Carolina IDL group began to impose their dominance in the run game throughout the 2nd half. They owned the LOS for the majority of the half and forced the Rams not only into a pass happy offense but more importantly an offense that was consistently behind the sticks, which only emphasized this issues in their blitz pick up. Not an alarming performance for the rest of the season by any means but certainly not the dominant physically overwhelming result you were looking for either.
- Key Notes for the Panthers
Defensively the Panthers were able to challenge the Rams passing attack far more than I had thought they’d be able to coming into the game. The biggest reason for that success was how Jaycee Horn and especially Mike Jackson played on the outside for them at CB. Horn and Jackson were physical throughout the route on the Rams WRs and they attacked the ball at the catch point at an extremely high level. Their ability to hold up in man or match zone against Adams and Nacua not only gave Stafford trouble but also the Rams OL as the Panthers could now blitz with no real or consistent repercussions. And Carolina took full advantage of this as DC Ejiro Evero came with a multitude of blitz packages that really gave Stafford and the Rams OL trouble.
Bryce Young first playoff game was a perfect representation of his entire season. Young made some unreal plays escaping pressure and finding ways to create chances for a Panthers offense couldn’t seem to establish any real consistency all game but at the same time he plays a huge part in that lack of consistency from the entirety of the offense. He struggled on a play to play basis with some of the most straightforward concepts and from an accuracy standpoint point as well but I also saw him execute in crucial moments with high level precision and decision making that makes you want to bet on him long term. It was this way all year and while I loved the gutsy performance from Young and this offense they absolutely need to continue to progress and grow to find some level of consistency or true strength on this side of the ball before I would be willing to bet on this group taking any real noticeable step in the years to come.
- Tetairoa McMillan was great this and his connection with Young has continually grown throughout the year. Their biggest strength in this game came from the RPO game where they got free access slant routes against the Rams off coverage in high leverage situations. Having a go to design like a slant route that’s that effective especially in high leverage moments is a huge difference maker and it showed its self in this game. If Young can continue to grow and find consistency in his game this duo could be one of the brightest QB WR pairings in the league.
The Panthers OL really impressed this game even through injuries and against a really strong Rams front. LT Ikem Ekwonu went down early in the game and RG Robert Hunt missed a number of snaps in his return to the field but the Panthers still found a way to get push in the run game and even more impressively hold up in pass protection even in obvious passing downs.
- Standout Performers
LAR
Matthew Stafford – 24/42 304yds 3/1
Puka Nacua – 10/111 1 TD – 3/14 1 TD rush
- Had a rough 2nd half including a drop on what would have been a go ahead TD but ultimately was the backbone of the passing offense once again and did nearly everything for the Rams.
Colby Parkinson – 2/34 1 TD
- Not a flashy stat line but played a huge part in the Rams coming back as he and the other TEs allowed them to use heavier personnel and slow down Carolina’s rush. Along with his effectiveness in personnel the catch at the pylon for the go ahead TD won them the game.
Cobie Durant – 1 Tackle 1 INT 2 PBUs
- Had some rough moments including an obvious PI in the end zone but made a couple crucial plays that kept them in this game down the stretch along with the interception early on.
Poona Ford – 2 Tackles (1 Solo) 1 Sack 1 TFL
CAR
Bryce Young – 21/40 264yds 1/1 – 3/24 1 TD rush
- Not a perfect game from Young by any means but he continues to battle play to play and find ways to keep his team within reach and often times winning down the stretch.
Chuba Hubbard – 13/46 2 TDs – 2/13 rec
Tetairoa McMillan – 5/81
- Found ways to make a significant impact without a huge stat line by coming up with crucial plays that kept drives alive and the Panthers driving down the field in big moments.
Jalen Coker – 9/134 1 TD
Mike Jackson – 3 Tackles (1 Solo) 1 INT 4 PBUs
- Unbelievable game especially in the 2nd half as he not only came up with an interception in a huge spot but was LOCKDOWN on Adams.
Tre’Von Moehrig – 3 Tackles (1 Solo)
- Not huge statistical game but his impact as a blitzer and in the box safety changed what Carolina was able to do up front while still being solid on the backend in coverage.
Jaycee Horn – 4 Tackles (2 Solo) 1 PBU