Panthers defense might be in special trouble vs. Matthew Stafford, Rams

There's not a lot any defense can do to stop Matthew Stafford this year. The Carolina Panthers were one of the few teams that forced him to make some mistakes, but he still nearly beat them and ended his season with 46 touchdown passes.

The Panthers are generally ill-equipped against most good quarterbacks. They do what they can off the back of Jaycee Horn, Derrick Brown, and some others, but this isn't a unit that can really counter a quarterback.

They tried in Week 13 against Stafford and the Rams, and it didn't work out as they expected. And it could spell doom in the Wild-Card Round.

Panthers may be in big trouble against Matthew Stafford this weekend

Generally speaking, pressure is how you get quarterbacks off their game. Some do well against it, but the simple fact of the matter is that it does make it harder to operate.

The Panthers cannot generate pressure ordinarily. They are 31st in sacks. We all saw Baker Mayfield running around for ages in the backfield last week before throwing it and completing it. The pass rush just can't get home.

So what's the solution? To simulate pressure or blitz, doing something to get extra bodies in the backfield and overwhelm everyone. Against the Rams, that didn't work.

In Week 13, the Panthers either blitzed Matthew Stafford, or sent simulated pressures against him, nine times.

It did not go well for them. Blitzing Stafford this season has been a death sentence. pic.twitter.com/eL0ckXZI9G
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) January 6, 2026

Sure, the Rams QB did have two interceptions and a fumble lost, but those are more fluky plays that didn't have as much to do with what the defense did beforehand. According to Doug Farrar, the Panthers simulated or blitzed nine times.

Stafford cooked them just about every time. He's done that to most teams. Blitzing him does not work. Part of this, as evidenced by one of the plays above, is the skills of Puka Nacua. He bailed Stafford out with a one-handed grab against the DB's arm on one blitz.

But regardless, Stafford wasn't too fazed, and he beat the blitz pretty easily. So what's the alternative? The Panthers shouldn't blitz, thereby leaving the front four to get pressure and leave the rest in coverage, right?

Well, that won't work, either. The Panthers tend to run zone more often, and if Stafford has all day with Nacua and Davante Adams running around, they're going to get open. The Panthers just have no answer.

They didn't have an answer last time, either. They just got a little lucky in the turnover battle, and they likely won't have that sort of success again.

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