Cat Scratch Reader
At this point, there is not much left to be said that describes the up and down nature of the Carolina Panthers 2025 season.
By almost any metric, any point of view, any anything – the Panthers should not have won this game. The Los Angeles Rams came in Sunday looking like the most formidable team in the NFL. A juggernaut with a chokehold on the top spot on most power rankings. Coming in to face a floundering Panthers squad that was down arguably 2 of their best 3 defensive players in Jaycee Horn and Tre’Von Moehrig. Not to mention a number of key starters and backups along the linebacking corps and offensive line.
But like all football fans know, the game is not played on spreadsheets or injury reports but on the field. And on the field, anything can happen. Every game has 5 or 6 plays that the whole contest boils down to. High leverage, do-or-die moments or opportunities where the outcomes define the story of the contest.
For the Panthers, they have to capitalize on these moments. When you are a massive underdog facing a talent and likely even schematic disadvantage, your winning conditions rely on coming up big in these moments. On Sunday, it looks like the Panthers knew this fact and came ready to make the most of them.
For this week’s game review, let’s take a look at the 5 moments that even a slightly different outcome may have prevented Sweet Caroline from ringing through Bank of America.
Nick Scott gets the glory, but if not for Derrick Brown’s behemoth sized skull he would have never gotten the opportunity. Brown’s consistent knack for making contact with the football at the line of scrimmage is perhaps his most underrated trait. On most occasions, Browns spikes the ball into the dirt with authority, but this time Brown got his head in the game and was able to have the ball bounce fortuitously into Scott’s hands. A play that likely took 7 points off the scoreboard and snapped Ram’s quarterback Matthew Stafford’s NFL record for consecutive touchdowns without an interception.
Down 4 points in the 3rd quarter, the Panthers took a chance on 4th and 3 from 34 yards out. Jalen Coker, who had not yet scored a single touchdown the entire season was lined up as the X receiver against press with a cornerback who has been playing at pro bowl caliber in recent weeks. Coker got vertical and provided a target for Bryce Young to toss it up.
Instead of taking something just past the sticks, Young and Dave Canales decided to go for it all on a match-up they liked. It paid off and instead of a turnover on downs, the Panthers took the lead. NFL’s next gen stats gave the play a less than 30% chance of completion. The execution had to be perfect between Young and Coker, but the second year...
