A Touchdown with less than a minute left to play, proved to be the difference in the Carolina Panthers playoff loss, Saturday. The Panthers fell at home to the L.A. Rams 34-31. Carolina had a chance to win it late, but turned the ball over on downs.
The Panthers showed resolve battling back after being down 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter to make it 14-7. Carolina got on the board in the 2nd with a Chuba Hubbard TD run.
The Rams answered with a FG with 5:20 left before the half to lead 17-7. The Panthers responded with a TD drive in the final minute of the opening half to make it 17-14 at the break.
In the 3rd, the Panthers got a Field Goal to tie it at 17. The Rams got a Field Goal of their own later in the 3rd to re-take the lead at 20-17 after the third.
It was a frenzy in the final frame, as the lead would switch hands multiple times. The Panthers took their 1st lead of the game with another TD run from Hubbard, early in the 4th.
The Rams answered with an 11 play, 67 yard TD drive to retake the lead at 27-24. The Panthers responded scoring on a Bryce Young TD pass to make it 31-27.
That's when Matthew Stafford engineered a 7 play, 71 yard scoring drive that was capped by Stafford's 3rd TD pass of the game. That made it 34-31 with 38 seconds left.
With the loss, the Panthers finish the season at 8-10 overall. It's their best finish since 2017 which was the last time the Panthers made the playoffs until this year. Carolina also won the NFC South Title for the 1st time since 2015.