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The Los Angeles Rams survived the Carolina Panthers to advance to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. LA corrected the record and got revenge after falling to Carolina earlier in the year. The final score was 34-31.
Let’s take a look at the Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades and data from the game. Who helped the Rams move to the next round of the postseason?
With Kevin Dotson out, it’s a debate whether Warren McClendon or Alaric Jackson is the Rams’ next best lineman. Jackson took those honors on Saturday. He graded out evenly in the run and pass games at 80.9 and 80.4, respectively.
Nacua led the Rams in run blocking grade at 91.3. While he was easily LA’s most productive receiver with 10 catches for 11 yards and two total scores, his PFF grade is likely lower than expected because he dropped a would-be touchdown from Matthew Stafford. Making this play could have made a major difference in the game script.
The Rams didn’t target Parkinson often. He made the biggest play of the game with the winning 19-yard touchdown from Stafford. In total he finished with two catches on three targets for 34 yards and the score. The blocking grades were less favorable for Parkinson. He made his mark as a receiver in this game.
Shelton was stellar in pass protection with a grade of 82.1 (second to Blake Corum on the team). He struggled in run blocking with a grade of 65.3 (still fifth highest).
The Rams allowed 11 pressures on Stafford. This is how they stacked up:
While Blake Corum averaged 4.1 yards per carry and Williams was slightly better at 4.4, the Rams didn’t seem committed to the rushing attack for most of this game. They seemed to fare better on early downs and couldn’t muster much production in short-yardage situations. Williams finished with 13 carries for 57 yards and Corum had 11 rushes for 45.
Williams created 24 yards after contact. Corum had 26. Nacua led the offense in forced missed tackles as a rusher with three.
This wasn’t Matthew Stafford’s worst game of the 2025 season, but it was second from the bottom according to PFF. His lowest mark also came against Carolina in Week 13.
That should give us comfort that maybe the Rams’ slow start to the postseason was a unique outcome of facing the Panthers. Stafford and the offense may fare better against a different defense.
Still, it’s noteworthy that the Panthers defensive coordinator is a former Sean McVay assistant in Ejiro Evero. Does Evero hold the recipe to slowing...
