Carolina Panthers end season after resilient effort vs. Rams falls one drive short
The Carolina Panthers wrung out all the magic they could find in every hallway and concourse and blade of turf in Bank of America Stadium on Saturday evening — and they even called on the franchise’s ultimate showman, Cam Newton, to summon it all.
And yet, it was not quite enough.
The Panthers fell to the Los Angeles Rams, 34-31, in the NFL playoffs on Saturday. They clawed from down 14-0 to ultimately take a lead in the fourth quarter — one powered by a career day from Jalen Coker and a special day from Bryce Young and a resilient effort by their special teams.
But in the end, Rams quarterback Matt Stafford flexed his experience and intellect and tenacity and willed his team to a game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
Some important stats:
Chuba Hubbard assumed the starting running back spot on Saturday, taking 13 carries for 46 yards and two touchdowns. Rico Dowdle, his backfield mate, finished with only five carries for nine yards. Young was the team’s second-leading rusher with three carries for 24 yards, including one TD scamper from 16 yards out.
Viewers saw a wonderful quarterback battle Saturday. Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He was, however, picked off once by cornerback Mike Jackson, who also finished with a game-high four pass breakups. Young, meanwhile, was good, too: 21 of 40 for 264 yards and one touchdown. He added a pick, too.
Receiving leaders for the Panthers: Coker (nine catches, 134 yards, one touchdown) and Tetairoa McMillan (five catches for 81 yards).
Receiving leaders for the Rams: Puka Nacua (10 catches for 111 yards) and Davante Adams (five catches for 72 yards).
We provided takeaways throughout the game. Check those out below.
Fourth quarter takeaways: Jalen Coker is a monster
This quarter was defined by Jalen Coker. Then Matthew Stafford stepped in and proved why he should be the MVP. Specifically:
- Coker simply wouldn’t be denied in the final quarter of his first playoff game. The second-year wide receiver hauled in a flag route touchdown with 2:43 left in the game, snatching it over safety Kam Curl. He held his arms in the air, palms up, after the score, as if to ask the 73,000-plus crowd: Are you not entertained? That touchdown put him to nine receptions on 12 targets for a single-game career-high 134 yards and one touchdown.
- Stafford made a change at the line of scrimmage with just under a minute to go, one that yielded an important pickup. It appeared like the veteran QB and MVP candidate saw that the Panthers’ nickel-package defense was running something he recognized, and then Stafford found WR Konata Mumpfield for an 11-yard pickup. That led to the 19-yard touchdown pitch and catch and punctuated the game-winning, seven-play, 71-yard drive that took up 2:01 minutes of game time and left the Panthers with very little time to make anything happen. In short: The Panthers’ prevent defense against Stafford didn’t fare well.
- Important note: Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn, who’d collided with his own teammates the drive before, was being evaluated for a concussion the entire last drive for the Rams. Reserve defensive back Akayleb Evans regularly matched up on the outside against one of the Rams’ star receivers — Puka Nacua and/or Davante Adams.
Fourth quarter update: Chuba Hubbard continues to finish the job
The interception Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson hauled in turned into points a few plays later, when running back Chuba Hubbard stretched into the end zone for his second time of the day. The Panthers, after the score, led the heavily favored Rams, 24-20, sending Bank of America Stadium into a tizzy. Fourteen minutes to go.
Third quarter takeaways: Carolina closes strong
The Panthers opened up the third quarter with an immediate stop on defense. The offense then followed up the stop with a game-tying field goal drive on the first possession of the second half. Despite the Panthers’ relative sloppiness, the Rams let Carolina stick around and close the gap.
The Rams came back with a field-goal drive of their own after safety Nick Scott was called for a personal foul penalty on a hit to wideout Davante Adams. The score was 20-17 with 4:17 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers ended the quarter with a 52-yard connection between Young and wideout Jalen Coker to put them on the cusp of the end zone.
- Nick Scott’s personal foul penalty helps the Rams: According to the broadcast booth, Scott was rightfully whistled for a personal foul penalty on the Rams’ second series of the second half. Stafford targeted Adams down the field and Scott collided with the wideout with violent force to break up the pass. The two players had their helmets collide and Adams dropped the ball. The Rams then hit a 42-yard field goal to take the lead.
- Mike Jackson continues to be a smooth criminal with takeaways: Following fourth-down failure by the offense, Panthers outside linebacker Trevis Gipson sacked Matthew Stafford for a 9-yard loss. With the Rams facing third-and-long, Jackson picked off Stafford for an interception that put the Panthers in position for another scoring drive. On the next possession, Young hit wideout Jalen Coker for a 52-yard gain to get the Panthers in the thick of the red zone.
- Fourth-down malfunction: The Panthers went 27 of 40 (67.5%) on fourth down during the regular season. They were zero for two on their first two tries on Saturday. On fourth-and-4 from the Los Angeles 48-yard line, Young got pressured out of the pocket and eventually had to throw the ball away late in the third quarter. While Jackson picked off a pass on the following series, the setbacks didn’t help Carolina on the scoreboard.
Second quarter takeaways: Panthers cut Rams lead to 3 at halftime
The Rams began the second quarter much like the first, riding the so-far-unstoppable Puka Nacua to a second touchdown to take a 14-0 lead and then later adding a field goal. The TD this time it was technically a 5-yard run, although Matthew Stafford basically threw a screen pass to Nacua behind the line of scrimmage that happened to be slightly backward. Nacua pinballed off three Panthers and into the end zone to conclude another short drive (48 yards) that started after Bryce Young’s interception was exacerbated by tight end Mitchell Evans’ 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
However, Nacua would make a huge mistake later in the half on what should have been his third TD. With Carolina having just scored to cut the Rams’ lead to 17-14, Nacua flew past Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn and was hit in stride by Stafford for what would have been a walk-in touchdown. However, Nacua dropped the ball, and the Panthers enter halftime feeling good and only down 17-14.
- Panthers’ offense finally wakes up: The Panthers showed their first signs of life on their fourth possession, when they drove 65 yards for a touchdown to cut the Rams’ lead from 14-0 to 14-7. Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker both made big-time catches on the drive, and a third-down pass interference on the Rams in the end zone allowed a first down at the 1. From there, Chuba Hubbard scored from a yard out rather easily, than jumped halfway into the stands. Hubbard, however, had a key drop on a third-and-2 on the next possession, forcing the Panthers to punt, down 17-7.
- Carolina then had another big drive that was capped by Young, who scrambled on a third-and-10 from the Rams 16, juked one defender and dove into the end zone.
- Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes: After the Panthers had a good defensive stand to force a punt of their own, rookie running back Trevor Etienne badly misplayed a punt. After signaling for a fair catch in the windy conditions, Etienne let the ball hit him in the facemask and bounce away. The Rams recovered the resulting fumble, and started their third possession on the Carolina side of 50. The Rams tried to put Carolina away, going for a fourth-and-3 at the Panthers 17, but DJ Wonnum broke up a Stafford pass and the Etienne turnover didn’t cost Carolina any points.
First quarter takeaways: Panthers lose Ekwonu with Hunt in lineup
The Panthers welcomed back Pro Bowl right guard Rob Hunt on Saturday. But they lost left tackle Ickey Ekwonu (knee) in the middle of their second series on offense. Ekwonu fell to the ground on a play that saw him get flagged for a holding call — the Rams would decline the penalty as the play resulted in a sack of quarterback Bryce Young. Ekwonu held his knee as he sat on the turf before walking to the medical tent. He was eventually carted off the sideline and was ruled out for the game. He was replaced by Yosh Nijman.
The Panthers trailed the Rams, 7-0, at the end of the first quarter. The Rams extended the lead to 14-0 to begin the second quarter.
Here are three takeaways from the first quarter:
- The Panthers need to protect Young better: With Ekwonu only playing about half of the first quarter, Young was hit four times, including two sacks. Young also looked skittish in the pocket when he wasn’t hit, which led to other passing miscues. Young finished the first quarter with 63 passing yards and an interception on a 58.3% completion percentage.
- The Rams’ defense shows up: Along with the two sacks and four overall QB hits, the Rams also picked off Young on a ball that was touched by two defenders. Prior to the interception, the defense also stood tall on a fourth-and-1 play on the Panthers’ first series.
- Sam Martin is the only Panthers player to have a big play: The punter booted 58-yard punt following the second series of the game. The ball flipped the field and backed the Rams up into their own territory following excellent coverage by safety Isaiah Simmons. The Rams would punt a few plays later.
Bank of America Stadium is utterly electric, capped by Cam Newton’s Keep Pounding drum
You knew Cam Newton would be in town. And you knew it was going to happen. But not much could prepare you for the roar in Bank of America Stadium when Newton stepped out from the tunnel and did his Superman celebration before whaling on the Keep Pounding drum.
Here’s a view of the spectacle.
Here’s a look at Steve Smith pumping up the crowd pregame.
And here’s a photo shared by the Panthers of Newton and his family with David and Nicole Tepper and CEO Kristi Coleman — an overture that suggests that the long-rumored rift between Newton and the franchise has been addressed.
A lot of Panthers starpower is in the building
This is certainly the most packed the stadium has been 45 minutes before the game. And for good reason. The stadium is a who’s-who of Panthers past. Among the returning Panthers legends: Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, Brentson Buckner, Mike Tolbert — and that doesn’t include general manager and former Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan.
Also, for those who care about this sort of thing: The first Panthers player on the field was running back Chuba Hubbard, and the first Rams player was Puka Nacua. Both were on the turf 2.5 hours early.
Inactives announced for Panthers-Rams
The Panthers’ inactives list: LB Krys Barnes, C Nick Samac, DT Jared Harrison-Hunte, WR David Moore, DE LaBryan Ray. And yes, starting right guard Robert Hunt, as we reported yesterday, is ready to go.
The Rams’ inactives list: TE Terrance Ferguson, OL Kevin Dotson, CB Josh Wallace, CB Derion Kendrick, CB Darious Williams, WR Jordan Whittington — with Stetson Bennett as the emergency QB.
Cam Newton makes Carolina Panthers’ pregame special
This day is a reminder of a ton of Panthers history. And it got started that way when just down the road from the stadium, on Elliot Street, where Panthers icon Cam Newton hosted a show of his live podcast called “4th&1” in front of a crowd of over 300 people.
The show started at 12:30 p.m., and Newton, wearing a retro jacket and his patented top hat, invited on guests that included former teammates Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly. The former quarterback rehashed old stories from that 2015 season, offered some keys for this matchup and constantly engaged the crowd — punctuating his show with a call-and-response of his catchphrase: “Altogether, One Love.”
Newton, right before the contest, will be the Keep Pounding drummer, too.
Catch the entire hour-plus-long show below. And yes, it’s titled, “I’m Baaaacckkkkk.”
Panthers-Rams: TV, broadcast information
The Panthers’ playoff contest will be televised on FOX. Joe Davis will handle play-by-play duties, with former Panthers star Greg Olsen as the analyst and former NFL official Mike Pereira as the on-site rules analyst. Kristina Pink and Pam Oliver will be on the field as sideline reporters.
Fans can listen to the game on the radio three ways:
- WRFX The Fox (WRFX 99.7 FM): Anish Shroff (pxp), Luke Kuechly, Jake Delhomme, Sharon Thorsland.
- National Radio (Westwood One Sports): Jason Benetti (pxp), Ryan Leaf.
- Spanish Radio (WXNC 97.3 FM, 1060 AM): Jaime Moreno (pxp), Antonio Ramos.
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM.
