SI

Panthers Escape First Half vs. Rams With Game in Reach Despite Four Brutal Mistakes

Carolina somehow escaped a first half filled with mistakes only trailing the Rams by three.

Tyler Lauletta

Trevor Etienne muffs a punt against the Rams.
Trevor Etienne muffs a punt against the Rams. / Fox
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The Panthers had an absolutely nightmarish first half against the Rams to open up the NFL postseason, but somehow, they left that mess trailling by only one score at the break.

Carolina got the ball first, and on the opening drive of the game, went for it on fourth-and-short from their own territory. Quarterback Bryce Young rolled out as far as he could, but couldn’t find anyone open.

The Rams would score on the ensuing possession in just four plays.

Then near the end of the first quarter, Young was looking for wide receiver Jalen Coker over the middle on first down just past midfield, but Coker stopped running on the route, and Rams corner Cobie Durant came away with the pick.

Seven plays later, the Rams extended their lead to 14–0.

From there, the Panthers got a touchdown back, then gave up a field goal to Los Angeles, pushing the score to 17–7.

The next time Carolina got the ball, Young threw to running back Chuba Hubbard on third-and-short. Hubbard had nothing but green grass in front of him, but seemed to pull his eyes up a second too early and dropped the ball.

Carolina punted the ball away, but the Panthers defense stood their ground, forcing the Rams into a three-and-out. Unfortunately, the ensuing punt hit return man Trevor Etienne in the facemask before falling to the ground, and was recovered by the Rams deep in Carolina territory.

But somehow, the Panthers defense held strong again, forcing a turnover on downs from Los Angeles. Carolina’s offense would answer the call next, going for a touchdown of their own before halftime, cutting the deficit to 17–14.

Somehow, despite four mistakes that could have spelled disaster for a team in a high stakes playoff game, Carolina went into halftime trailing by just a field goal with the game still well in reach.

They were helped significantly by one monster mistake from the Rams—wide receiver Puka Nacua saw a sure-thing touchdown bounce right off of his hands in the waning seconds of the half.

The Rams will get the ball to start the second half, but given the Panthers already survived a first half from hell relatively unscathed, they just might be ready to rally to an impressive upset win.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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