Three Takeaways From Rams' Crushing Loss to Panthers

Death by a Thousand Cuts

One of the biggest reasons why the Panthers were able to beat the Rams was because of how much they dominated the time of possession and how effective their run game was. As a team, they rushed for 164 yards on 40 carries, which averages out at 4.1 yards per carry.

Many of the Panthers' drives consisted of them wearing down the Rams' defense with run after run after run, so that those big plays came on the backs of them being exhausted, or them overcommitting to stopping the run.

In each of the Rams' losses this season, they've allowed more than 70 yards rushing, and Chuba Hubbard had more than that himself. The Rams' defense was unable to stop him consistently, as he averaged about five yards per carry.

To Bryce Young's credit, he did an amazing job of navigating the Rams' pressure and keeping their defense honest by hurting them whenever they overcommitted to the run. His throws weren't always precise, but he showed up when it mattered the most, and that helped them pull off this improbable win.

Getting Their Defense off the Field

Two of the Panthers' touchdown passes came on 4th down, which shows how aggressive Dave Canales is as a head coach, but it also showed the Rams' inability to get their defense off the field. The Panthers were a perfect 3 -3 on 4th down conversions against the Rams, something that absolutely cannot happen moving forward if the Rams are serious about being Super Bowl contenders.

The Panthers held the ball for 35 minutes, and their third-down efficiency was 7-for-15. Compared to the Rams' 24 minutes of possession and 2-5 success rate on third down, the Rams' offense didn't hold a candle to the Panthers' sustained drives.

The most head-scratching aspect of this loss is that the Rams stars did show up, well, most of them at least. Puka Nacua had one of the craziest catches you'll ever see, snagging the ball out of the air with one hand, and having the body control to haul it in and retain possession.

Davante Adams didn't catch one of the five balls thrown his way, but the rest of his game against the Chargers included two touchdown catches, on a play that's virtually unstoppable to beat due to the connection between him and Stafford.

Problems in Bunches

Matthew Stafford hadn't thrown an interception since Week 3. Not only that, he had only thrown two interceptions all season long. In one game, he surpassed his season total and managed to turn the ball over three times, all back-breaking mistakes.

The first interception wasn't entirely his fault, as the Panthers executed the tip drill perfectly and caught the ball in the red zone, which led to a touchback. However, on the next drive, he threw a pass a little bit behind Nacua, which gave Panthers DB Mike Jackson a chance to pick it off and return it for a defensive touchdown. The Rams only lost by a field goal, so if this had never happened, it would've completely changed the complexion of the game.

Finally, he was strip-sacked, which was the last time the Rams offense would get the ball. This loss demotes the Rams to the number two seed in the NFC, and they're now tied with the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks for the NFC West.

Somehow, someway, it's possible for the Rams to miss out on the playoffs entirely due to this blunder against the Panthers. The 49ers are the seventh seed in the NFC at the moment, and if they were to leapfrog the Rams for the division and teams like the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys keep winning, the Rams may not even get a chance to compete for a Super Bowl.