First Quarter
The Panthers got the ball first in front of a rocking Bank of America stadium. They started the game with an ineffective run up the middle. They were quickly faced with a 4th and 1. They tried to get Bryce Young in space on a rollout, but the Rams covered everything up and knocked away his pass to Tommy Tremble. All it took was three passes to Puka Nacua, and the Rams were up 7-0.
The Panthers quickly went 3 and out again. Young had Tetairoa McMillan open down the sideline on third down,
but he badly overthrew it. Sam Martin downed the Rams beautifully inside the 10. Another catch and run by Nacua gave them some room, but the Panthers held up against three runs on the next three plays and forced a punt right back.
A blown up weird looking play action play backed the Panthers up near their own goal line. It looked like Young was about to take a safety, but he was able to offload a pass Tommy Tremble at the last moment. He followed that with a completion to Jalen Coker to pick up an unlikely first down. They picked up another pair of first downs on passes to Tremble and McMillan to get across midfield, but that was the end of the success for the time being. Young threw a ball into traffic that was closer to two Rams than it was to any Panther. It was deflected and intercepted. An unnecessary roughness penalty at the end of the play added insult to injury. A few nice runs and a lot more Puka, including some broken tackles on a bubble screen for a touchdown, made the score 14-0.
Second Quarter
The offense responded. Young found Coker on a scramble drill then hit McMillan with consecutive passes for good gains that took Carolina into the red zone. A pass interference in the end zone set the Panthers up on the one, where Chuba Hubbard was able to punch it in.
The defense gave the Rams some problems on the next drive, and it looked like the momentum may have swung to the home team. But Matthew Stafford found Tyler Higbee running wide open down the seam as Nick Scott stood with his feet planted to the turf. That put the Rams in field goal range, where the Carolina defense tightened up this time and forced a field goal after Mike Jackson was able to force Davante Adams to land out of bounds on what would have been a long completion.
The Panthers quickly went three and out after the field goal. Young tried and awkward little flip to Hubbard, who was trying to leak out of the backfield, but the back couldn’t pull it in. The ball fell to the ground with all kinds of open field in front of Hubbard.
The defense was able to force a 3 and out right back after Stafford overthrew Adams on third down, but the ensuing punt hit off Trevor Etienne’s face mask and was recovered by the Rams. A block in the back on a screen pass put the Rams far enough behind the sticks that they ended up in a 4th and 3. They tried to go for it, and Stafford probably could have run for it, but he tried to squeeze in a pass that was knocked away by DJ Wonnum.
The offense didn’t seem to have much urgency after a first down handoff to Dowdle went nowhere, but Young launched a deep ball down the middle of the field to Coker. The pass was overthrown, but Coker sold a pass interference call, and the refs bought it from him. He caught a pass on the next play to put the Panthers in scoring range. A few plays later, Young evaded the Rams pass rush, eluded a defender in the open field, then dove into the end zone to pull the Panthers within a field goal.
Ryan Fitzgerald’s kickoff landed short of the landing zone, which meant the Rams had a chance to push for a late field goal. The defense did enough to hold up, sort of. Stafford had Nacua open down the sideline on a third down, but it looked like the receiver may have lost his bearings a bit at the last second, and he dropped what should have been a wide open touchdown. The half ended with the Panthers trailing by a respectable 17-14 score.
Third Quarter
The Rams took possession first and threw three straight passes to Davante Adams. All fell incomplete. Trevor Etejnne made amends for muffed punt by double catching the next one. It set up a Panthers drive that took about half the third quarter. They largely leaned on Hubbard, but Young did have a good completion over the middle of the field to McMillan to pick up a big chunk. The drive ultimately stalled out in Rams territory, and Dave Canales elected to kick a field goal on 4th and 2 to tie the game.
The Rams finally completed a pass to Davante Adams to big up a big gain on third down. They got another big gain on a pass to Adams when Nick Scott was called for unnecessary roughness on a hard hit that jarred the ball free. The Rams also stalled at field goal range thanks to some excellent Mike Jackson coverage on Nacua on third down. The Rams went up 20-17.
The Panthers started the ensuing drive out near midfield after a Rams personal foul on the kickoff, but they couldn’t move the ball. They still tried going for a 4th and 4, but Young couldn’t find anybody, and his pass fell harmlessly to the turf.
Tashaun Gipson finally got the Panthers first sack of the game to set up a 3rd and long. On the next play, the Panthers got pressure again, and it was enough to force an errant pass out of Stafford. It was picked off by Mike Jackson. On the second play after the change of possession, Young found Coker over the middle, who scampered for 52 yards inside the Rams ten.
Fourth Quarter
A Rams penalty set the Panthers up with 1st and goal from the three a few seconds into the fourth quarter. Young handed off to Chuba, who muscled through tacklers to give the Panthers an improbable fourth quarter lead.
The Rams didn’t take long to respond. Stafford found Adams for their own long catch and run across the middle. A few plays later, on third down, Stafford felt some pressure and heaved a hopeful ball to the end zone for Nacua. It was nowhere its intended target, and Nick Scott was the only player that had a chance to make a play on the ball. He got his hands on it, but Nacua was able to hit Scott and jar the ball free. They were able to grind out a first down on the next play. A few plays later, Stafford found Kyren Williams out of the back field for a go ahead touchdown.
Young hit Coker with two quick passes, but he got a little over exuberant hunting for YAC and lost a couple yards. He and Younc couldn’t connect on third down, and Sam Martin was brought on to punt.
A holding penalty forced the Rams to quickly do the same. And wouldn’t you know it? The Panthers blocked it. Isaiah Simmons came off the edge and blocked it. Young found McMillan across the middle to set the Panthers up inside the ten. A few plays later, he found Coker in the back corner of the end zone for the lead.
Overall Outlook
You can’t not be proud of the boys. They went toe to toe with one of the top Super Bowl contenders. The passing game showed out. Young had a mostly great game, and McMillan and Coker showed how good they are on a national stage. The defense scratched and clawed but just couldn’t quite do enough.
On to next season. What a ride.
