All Panthers

How the Panthers can upset the Rams a second time this year

Dave Canales’s NFC South champions are big underdogs on Saturday to the visiting Rams. There’s a way the Panthers can win their first playoff game since 2015.
Russell Baxter|
Nov 30, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) is sacked by Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown (95) during the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images
Nov 30, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) is sacked by Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown (95) during the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

In this story:

Carolina Panthers

This week, Jared Dubin of CBS Sports took a look at all six first-round NFL playoff contests. His eye was on the six underdogs and ranked those teams in terms of their upset capability.

The football analyst is obviously giving the Carolina Panthers not much of a chance of knocking off the Los Angeles Rams for the second time this season. The NFC South champions host Sean McVay’s 12-5 team on Saturday afternoon.

“Carolina has already pulled off an upset victory over the Rams once this season,” explained Dubin, “so it's tough to place the Panthers down here on the list. But there's a reason L.A. is favored by 10.5 points on the road: the Rams are a much better team than are the Panthers, who went just 8-9 this year and needed a ton of help to even get into the postseason."

"If Bryce Young plays like he did in the first game against the Rams," added Dubin, "and if Matthew Stafford turns it over three times again, then the Panthers have a shot; but it's tough to see things playing out exactly that way again.”

In that Week 13 matchup, Young hit on 15 of his 20 throws for 206 yards and three scores. His touchdown tosses to running back Chuba Hubbard, Jalen Coker, and Tetairoa McMillan covered 35, 33, and 43 yards, respectively.

Meanwhile, Stafford finished 18-of-28 for 243 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to wide receiver Davante Adams. However, he was picked off twice late in the first quarter. First, he was intercepted in the end zone by safety Nick Scott. On the Rams’ next possession, cornerback Mike Jackson stepped in front of a pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter and with his team down 31-28, Stafford was sacked by Derrick Brown and fumbled, and Panthers’ teammate A'Shawn Robinson scooped up the prize with less than three minutes to play. McVay’s club never saw the ball again.

It’s been a season of ups and downs for the improved Panthers. Does Canales’s team have one more shocking win in them?

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI -

Do the Panthers have any positional advantages over Rams?

Predictions for NFC Wild Card matchup between Panthers, Rams

Cam Newton set to return for home playoff game vs. Rams

Why the Panthers will (and won’t) beat the Rams in the playoffs

Published
Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.