Matt Stafford's late touchdown pass lifts Rams past Panthers in NFL wildcard shootout

Matthew Stafford threw a 19-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds left on the clock to lift the Los Angeles Rams to a dramatic 34-31 wildcard round win over the Carolina Panthers to kickstart the NFL playoffs.

Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception, while Puka Nacua had 10 receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams advanced to the divisional round.

Bryce Young threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score for Carolina (8-10), who finished the season losing four of their final five games.

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Jalen Coker had career highs with nine receptions for 134 yards with a touchdown and Chuba Hubbard ran for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

The hosts fell behind 14-0 early, but stormed back to take a 24-20 lead on Hubbard's second touchdown of the run game early in the fourth quarter.

Stafford, who was selected as an All-Pro earlier in the day, led the Rams back down on the field and found Kyren Williams for a 13-yard touchdown strike for a 27-24 lead.

Los Angeles appeared to be in charge after getting a stop on defense giving Stafford the ball back, but a holding penalty put the Rams behind the sticks and forced a punt, which Isaiah Simmons blocked to give the Panthers field position.

Four plays later, Young found Coker in the left corner of the end zone for a seven-yard scoring strike to give Carolina the 31-27 lead with 2 minutes and 39 seconds left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

But as he so often does, Stafford quickly moved the Rams 71 yards in seven plays with Panthers two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn on the sideline with a concussion, finishing it off with a perfectly placed pass to Parkinson near the right side of the goal line and the tight-end forced his way in.

“Yeah, total team effort," Stafford said.

“Obviously had some mistakes along the way. I turned it over, we had a punt blocked, didn’t score before the half when we probably should have. So, a lot to clean up, but found a way to win it late. I believe in my teammates, I know they believe in me.”

It was nearly the second time this season the Rams lost to the Panthers as 10-point underdogs after Carolina won 31-28 in November.

Carolina's last attempt to move into field-goal range ended when Jimmy Horn dropped a fourth down pass from Young.

Carolina was hoping the return of former quarterback Cam Newton to Bank of America Stadium to hit the “Keep Pounding” drum before the game would give the Panthers a little extra mojo early, but things didn't start well.

After the Rams defence came up with a stop on fourth down at midfield on Carolina's opening drive, Stafford quickly moved the offense downfield and found Nacua for a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 7-0 lead.

Nacua made it 14-0 on a 5-yard run following Young's interception.

Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.

LA had a chance to build on the lead, but Nacau dropped a potential third TD on a pass down the right sideline from Stafford just before halftime.

Stafford surpassed Kurt Warner for the most post-season passing yards and completions in Rams history.