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Nov 30, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay looks on during the first quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Rams' Loss to Carolina Serves As Ultimate Lesson

Originally posted on Los Angeles Rams on SI
By Brock Vierra | Last updated Dec 1, 2025 5:40 PM ET

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. Now that a day has passed since the Los Angeles Rams suffered a stunning defeat to the Carolina Panthers, the wearing off of the shock reveals one indisputable truth: the Rams needed to lose that game.

While the loss dropped the Rams from the number one seed in the NFC, the loss also brought to life the Rams' affirmation of "you're only one week away from being humbled." Now that the Rams have endured the loss, the pain from it should power the team towards the Lombardi.

Why This Loss Mattered

There are two lessons that have come from this game. One is the reminder that losing sucks, especially now that they're a team with high expectations. The Rams haven't been front-runners in years and while Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford remain, there are that many elements of the Super Bowl LVI winning squad still let on the team.

Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Even the elements that do remain none of them play a high volume of snaps on defense and if the Rams are to succeed this postseason, the defense can not let what happened to them happen again.

The Rams have been flying a bit too close to the sun and despite their best abilities to stay focused, it's naturally difficult to think one could be defeated when the team didn't trail in a game for a single second in 5.75 straight games.

The second lesson is that if the Rams secure home-field advantage, they have yet to lose at home after a full week's rest this season.

The History

Teams who are the number one seeds, who haven't been there before as a unit, typically do not get the job done in terms of winning the Lombardi. The Lions lost their lone playoff game last season, the 49ers and Eagles lost in the Super Bowl during their first stints as the one seed in the 2020s, and the Packers lost multiple times, not even making the Super Bowl.

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

In fact, the only team in the NFC to have the number one seed and win the Super Bowl since 2015 have been the Eagles twice. In 2018, the Eagles had their chin check moment when Carson Wentz was lost for a season, forcing the team to lock in and that powered them to their Lombardi and in 2024, that Eagles team had been to the show two years before so they knew how to get back and yet were one second away from disaster if the Rams could've blocked Jalen Carter.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

So even the most prepared teams often only win by the finest of margins so for a Rams team with championship ambitions in 2025, to get beaten by a team that is considered not good by many (despite the actual team being quite good this season but failed to be propped up by the national media due to former failures), this is the moment the Rams are about to turn it on as they look to win yet another NFC West title.

I'll tell you this: if the Rams had not lost this game, they would've lost in Seattle. But now, with the taste of defeat becoming familiar again, expect a full-frontal assault in the Arizona desert this week.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Rams on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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