Some Panthers fans are citing Matthew Stafford’s three-turnover loss to Carolina as evidence that he should not win MVP. Do they have a point?
Probably not — MVPs have bad games too — but it does bring
up an important factor in Saturday’s wild card rematch on the same field between the Rams and Panthers: Stafford was stifled by Carolina defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s defense (a coach who saw Stafford in practice every day as L.A.‘s defense pass game coordinator in 2021) and that was without Jaycee Horn, the lone game that the Pro Bowl corner missed all season.
Stafford threw two interceptions and lost a fumble at the end of the game as the Rams lost 31-28 in Week 13. On the matchup, L.A.’s quarterback called the Panthers secondary as good as any he faced all season even before adding back Horn: “I’d like to not throw it to their team (this time). That was the story of the game.”
Another secondary starter who missed the game was safety Tre’von Moehrig (also the only game he missed all year) and he will be on the field this week too. Moehrig had 103 tackles, one interception, and three sacks in 2025.
“I feel like they call similar things, but it’s just adding in an All-Pro-type player,” he said of Horn’s return. “I think both of their corners are as good as you’ll see in the league. They have unique skill sets to themselves. They play to their strengths. Their defense helps those guys play to their strength and they are really good football players. As far as the backend goes, it’s about as good as we’ve seen all year and it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
Per Next Gen Stats, Stafford’s 18/28, 243 yards, 2 TD/2 INT, 2 sack, 1 fumble loss to Carolina ranked this low on his 17 starters in 2025:
- 85.9 passer rating (15th/17)
- -1.7% Completion Percentage Over Expectation (12th/17)
- -6.3 Estimated Points Added (16th/17)
- Bad Throw% 22.2% (14th/17)
- Intended Air Yards 222 (16th/17)
- Drops: 0
- YAC per catch 6.9 yards: 2nd-BEST game of Stafford’s season
- 13.3% pressure rate: LOWEST of the season
So despite L.A.’s receivers having one of their best games of the season and Stafford being pressured at his lowest rate of the season, the Rams quarterback still posted a bottom-4 start for his 2025 by almost any measure. And that was without Horn or Moehrig.
To another and less important extent, former Rams linebacker Christian Rozeboom also missed the game and is healthy now. Rozeboom led the Panthers with 122 tackles. If experience against Stafford in practice is any indication, it would explain how safety Nick Scott got his only interception of the season off of Stafford.
Former Seahawks cornerback Mike Jackson had a pick-six off of Stafford.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales was coy about how Carolina was able to disrupt Stafford’s MVP season in Week 13 without Horn, Moehrig, or Rozeboom and obviously would like to be able to do it again on Saturday.
Not just putting points on the board with Jackson’s pick, but also taking points off of the board with Scott’s pick moments earlier.
On the loss, Sean McVay said this week that the Rams didn’t underestimate Carolina. That instead it was just uncharacteristic to turn the ball over that many times.
“I think they got a really solid team [Panthers],” Sean McVay said in a presser on January 6. “I don’t think we took them lightly at all. We just came out and played a little bit of sloppy ball at times. Played some good football, too, but it was uncharacteristic of us to turn the ball over the way that we did. So, just being a little bit more ball aware, making sure we’re not turning over, whether it’s interceptions or fumbling the ball. Whatever it is, just being able to protect it because a team like that’ll be able to take advantage if you make bad mistakes like that.”
The Rams did rank fourth in turnovers and only had multiple turnovers three times, all losses (Panthers, Falcons, 49ers on TNF) but it hurt just as much that L.A.’s defense forced zero turnovers against Carolina. With an offense as inconsistent and turnover prone as the Panthers, it’s going to hurt when you can’t stop the run, can’t force any turnovers against Bryce Young, and lose the turnover battle -3 in a game you lose by 3.
So while Stafford was bad against a depleted Panthers secondary that will be 100% on Saturday, the Rams defense isn’t absolved of blame or responsibility to help the Rams win a game when the offense scores 28 points.
Evero has some good ideas for defending Stafford. Does Chris Shula have a better plan to stop the run and now allow a game-winning touchdown pass from Young to Tetairoa McMillan? That will be even more important on the road this Saturday.
MVPs need valuable teams.
