Whew.<\/p>\n
The best nearly went bust.<\/p>\n
The heavy favorites nearly collapsed under their own weight.<\/p>\n
The Rams<\/a> were nearly toppled by the runts, barely surviving what should have been a blowout, profusely sweating through a wild-card playoff game that should have been a breeze, and now you wonder.<\/p>\n If their first step toward the Super Bowl is going to be this ungainly, how much longer can they stay upright?<\/p>\n At first sight, the final score is all that mattered, this 34-31 wild-card playoff victory<\/a> over the Carolina Panthers at Charlotte\u2019s Bank of America Stadium on Saturday proving to be a soul-testing triumph that will provide powerful preparation for the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n Upon further inspection, it was just a freaking mess.<\/p>\n The Rams skipped across the country as a historic 10\u00bd-point favorite \u2014 biggest postseason spread in modern history \u2014 yet trudged home requiring a last-second touchdown pass from the unsinkable Matthew Stafford to a leaping Colby Parkinson<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was all so dramatic. It was all so unnecessary.<\/p>\n In the end, Rams coach Sean McVay<\/a> screamed and pumped his fists while begging the question, was it rejoicing or was it relief? Hard to tell, but here\u2019s guessing it was both.<\/p>\n \u201dWe are going to need to be able to play better if we expect to be able advance past this first round,\u201d McVay acknowledged afterward. \u201cBut never take it for granted … grateful to have another week with this team that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a team that seemingly everybody loves, or, at least, loved.<\/p>\n The Rams had scored the game\u2019s first two touchdowns and were apparently headed for the expected rout when the 12-win powerhouse favored in this space to win the Super Bowl<\/a> suddenly looked like that uncertain bunch that had lost two of its last three.<\/p>\n The least penalized team in the last five years committed 83 yards worth of penalties. The sure-handed Puka Nacua<\/a> dropped a sure touchdown pass. The beyond-accurate Stafford banged his hand on a helmet and missed on seven straight pass attempts at one point, his longest slump as a Ram.<\/p>\n Oh, yeah, and the team that fired its special teams coordinator at midseason blew it again on special teams, a late punt being blocked and leading to the Panthers scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 2:39 remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were lots of instances where we have to be more poised, and that\u2019s a reflection on me,\u201d said McVay. \u201cIn spite of all that, we found a way to give our best in the most important moments.\u201d<\/p>\n The last of those moments was again owned by Stafford, who went six of seven for 71 yards on the final two-minute drive that featured catches by four different receivers including little-used Konata Mumpfield. Yeah, Konata Mumpfield, and don\u2019t you dare say Stafford shouldn\u2019t win his first MVP award.<\/p>\n Drake Maye? Are you kidding me? Even East Coast bias can\u2019t taint the greatness of the Rams\u2019 quarterback, whose no-look dazzling was on full display late in the game even though, in the fourth quarter, he needed Nacua to knock the ball out of Nick Scott\u2019s hands to prevent his second interception and perhaps save the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n