{"id":507774,"date":"2026-01-11T05:03:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507774\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:03:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:03:27","slug":"matthew-stafford-goes-gangster-on-panthers-in-wild-card-playoff-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507774\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford goes ‘gangster’ on Panthers in wild-card playoff win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CHARLOTTE, N.C.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Matthew Stafford<\/a> is a first-team All-Pro<\/a> and a favorite to win the NFL most valuable player award.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also an acknowledged soul-stealer and heart-snatcher.<\/p>\n

No ballots required.<\/p>\n

Stafford proved it again Saturday<\/a> at Bank of America Stadium. In the moments before Stafford took the field with 2 minutes 34 seconds left in an NFC wild-card game against the Carolina Panthers, he made a casual comment to receiver Davante Adams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go snatch these guys\u2019 hearts,\u201d Stafford said.<\/p>\n

Stafford then delivered a trademark drive that ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson<\/a>, giving the Rams a dramatic 34-31 victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams tight end Colby Parkinson celebrates after making a 19-yard touchdown catch in front of Carolina safety Tre\u2019von Moehrig in the final minute of the Rams\u2019 34-31 win Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in that spot a lot in my life,\u201d Stafford, a 17th-year pro, said of relishing last-minute opportunities. \u201cBrings a smile to my face because I like being there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford has made a career of engineering comebacks. So we\u2019ve seen and heard this act before.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s performance and his comment to Adams harked to the 2021 season, and a divisional-round victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>, when Stafford put together a winning drive in 42 seconds.<\/p>\n

Stafford said after that game that he lived for those moments and, of course, would have preferred to be ahead and take a knee to close the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s a whole lot more fun when you got to make a play like that to win the game and just steal somebody\u2019s soul,\u201d he famously added.<\/p>\n

So there it is. Again. The soul-stealing, heart-snatching Stafford.<\/p>\n

Adams, a 12th-year pro in his first season with the Rams, said it was \u201cpretty cold\u201d to hear Stafford\u2019s message and he smiled at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment,\u201d Adams said. \u201cTo hear him say that, and the look on his face, and then to throw that touchdown and then the look on his face after that was just like MVP stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

For much of the game Stafford did not look like the player who led the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes. He completed his first seven passes but then had one of his fingers bent backward when his throwing hand hit the helmet of a Panthers player.<\/p>\n

Stafford finished 24 for 42 for 304 yards and tossed touchdowns to Puka Nacua<\/a>, Kyren Williams<\/a> and Parkinson. Stafford had one pass intercepted and it could have been two had Nacua not prevented the pick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stafford at one point missed on seven consecutive passes, the longest such streak of his playoff career. But during the decisive drive he completed six of seven attempts.<\/p>\n

His performance down the stretch enabled the Rams to outlast the Panthers and advance to the divisional round. The Rams won\u2019t know their opponent until Sunday\u2019s wild-card games are complete, but they probably need the time to breathe a sigh of relief.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford walks off the field after a 34-31 playoff win over the Panthers on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Because they committed numerous blunders and penalties and wasted several opportunities that gave the Panthers \u2014 a team that went into a home playoff game as a 10\u00bd-point underdog \u2014 plenty of chances to pull off an upset that would have ranked as perhaps the worst loss in coach Sean McVay<\/a>\u2019s nine seasons.<\/p>\n

Instead, McVay will lead his team into the divisional round for the fifth time in nine seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrateful to have another week with this team that I love,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

There was plenty to like.<\/p>\n

Nacua also ran for a touchdown and caught 10 passes for 111 yards. Adams, playing for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury in Week 15, caught five passes for 72 yards.<\/p>\n

Harrison Mevis kicked two field goals, Cobie Durant intercepted a pass that Quentin Lake<\/a> tipped, and Braden Fiske<\/a> and Poona Ford had sacks for a defense that gave Stafford and the offense a final chance to win the game and avenge a Nov. 30 loss to the Panthers.<\/p>\n

In that game Stafford had two passes intercepted \u2014 one that was returned for a touchdown \u2014 lost a fumble and was responsible for a critical delay-of-game penalty late in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

On Saturday the Rams led 17-14 at halftime, but late in the third quarter, Carolina\u2019s Mike Jackson intercepted a Stafford pass, and Bryce Young led a touchdown drive that gave the Panthers a 24-20 lead.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 touchdown put the Rams back in the lead with 8:47 left in the game, but the Panthers blocked a punt with about four minutes left, and Young passed for a touchdown and a 31-27 lead with 2:39 left.<\/p>\n

That set the stage for Stafford.<\/p>\n

In last season\u2019s divisional-round defeat at Philadelphia, Stafford had a chance to win the game in the end but could not close the deal.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams, right, celebrates with wide receiver Xavier Smith after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Apparently there was no doubt among Rams players that he would come through Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear to you I looked up at the clock and I said, \u2018Are you serious?\u2019\u201d defensive lineman Kobie Turner said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard of No. 9, but if you leave 2 minutes and 34 seconds left with three timeouts, No. 9 is going to do his thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean there was never a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not in tight end Tyler Higbee\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you got 9 leading the charge and Sean McVay calling plays,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t have any doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither does Nacua.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever a doubt,\u201d he said. \u201cNo. 9\u2019s with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the ball at the Rams\u2019 29-yard line, Stafford came off the sideline with Adams and wasted no time. Stafford completed a pass to Nacua, two to Adams and another to Nacua as the Rams advanced to the Panthers\u2019 30. Stafford\u2019s next pass fell incomplete, but he connected with rookie Konata Mumpfield before finding Parkinson for a 19-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left, the tight end pulling in the pass as it sailed toward the sideline, twisting and falling into the end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was going to have to be a back-shoulder ball,\u201d Parkinson said, \u201cand Matthew placed it perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 defense ended the game by forcing the Panthers to turn over the ball on downs.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust happy to do my part there at the end,\u201d Stafford said.<\/p>\n

With a soul-stealing, heart-snatching smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Matthew Stafford is a first-team All-Pro and a favorite to win the NFL most valuable player award.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":507775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,12943,80591,1910,200639,2961,5615,224,5337,7009,449,89635,227309,5613,72004,6620,62842,80883,34175],"class_list":{"0":"post-507774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-davante-adams","11":"tag-field-goal","12":"tag-game","13":"tag-harrison-mevis","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-lead","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-panthers","19":"tag-point","20":"tag-puka-nacua","21":"tag-rams-comeback","22":"tag-second","23":"tag-stafford","24":"tag-time","25":"tag-touchdown-pass","26":"tag-yard","27":"tag-young"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115874719690914274","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}