CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Puka Nacua stepped into the huddle with the Los Angeles Rams trailing by four with 2:38 left, the home crowd roaring and his team’s season on the line.
He never thought twice about losing.
“Never a doubt — No. 9 is with us,” Nacau said with a wide smile in reference to the team’s 37-year-old All-Pro quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford calmly led the Rams 71 yards by completing 6 of 7 passes — the only incompletion coming on a drop by Davante Adams — before capping it with a perfectly-placed 19-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds, lifting the Rams to a dramatic come-from-behind 34-31 wild-card round win over the Carolina Panthers in the opening game of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.
Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception, while Nacua had 10 receptions for 111 yards and two total touchdowns as the Rams (13-5), who were 10 1/2-point favorites, advanced to the divisional playoffs.
“You see him out there, he just has the best composure of anyone I have ever seen,” Parkinson said. “He knows that we are going to go make it happen and we completely trust him. … I knew he was going to have to throw a throw back-shoulder ball — and that was a perfect ball. Like perfect. It couldn’t have been placed any better.”
Stafford credited his calmness to his 17 years of NFL experience.
″I have been in that spot a lot in my life — and I love that spot,” Stafford said. “I would rather be me having to go out there with our offense and do it then watch from the sideline. You can make it stressful or you can make it calm and collected, and think the latter is what we were today.”
Bryce Young threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score for Carolina (8-10), which finished its second season under coach Dave Canales losing four of its final five games.
Jalen Coker had career highs with nine receptions for 134 yards with a touchdown and Chuba Hubbard ran for 46 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers lost in their first playoff appearance since the 2017 season.
“There is such a mix of emotions right now in the locker room, from guys being proud of what we accomplished and where we got, to being sick about the opportunity that was right there in front of us,” Canales said. “And that is going to sting.”
The Panthers, who came in as double-digit underdogs despite beating the Rams 31-28 on this same field six weeks ago, fell behind 14-0 early but stormed back to take a 24-20 lead on Hubbard’s second touchdown of the run game early in the fourth quarter.
Stafford, who was selected as an All-Pro earlier in the day, led the Rams back down on the field and found Kyren Williams for a 13-yard touchdown strike to regain the lead.
Los Angeles appeared to be in charge after getting a stop on defense giving Stafford the ball back.
But a holding penalty put the Rams behind the sticks and forced a punt, which Isaiah Simmons blocked to set the Panthers up the Rams 30.
Four plays later, Young found Coker in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard scoring strike to give Carolina a 31-27 lead 2:39 left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
But the celebrations quickly turned to silence after Stafford gave the Rams the lead again.
Carolina’s last attempt to move into field-goal range ended when Jimmy Horn dropped a fourth down pass from Young.
“Yeah, total team effort,” said Stafford, a leading candidate for league MVP after leading the league in yards passing and touchdowns. “Obviously had some mistakes along the way. I turned it over, we had a punt blocked, didn’t score before the half when we probably should have. So, a lot to clean up, but found a way to win it late.”
Carolina was hoping the return of former quarterback Cam Newton to Bank of America Stadium to hit the “Keep Pounding” drum before the game would give the Panthers a little extra mojo early, but things didn’t start well.
After the Rams defense came up with a stop on fourth down at midfield on Carolina’s opening drive, Stafford quickly moved the offense downfield and found Nacua for a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 7-0 lead.
Nacua made it 14-0 on a 5-yard run following Young’s interception.
Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.
The Rams had a chance to build on the lead, but Nacau dropped a potential third TD on a pass down the right sideline from Stafford just before halftime.
Rams coach Sean McVay admitted it wasn’t his team’s best effort and there is plenty to clean up this week.
“We are going to need to be able to play better if we expected to advance,” McVay said.
But Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner said rectifying those mistakes is something that can be addressed on Sunday.
“There are no style points in the playoffs,” Turner said. “It’s all about survive and advance.”