CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As the Rams offense jogged onto the field, trailing by four with 2:34 left to play in their wild-card playoff game against the Carolina Panthers, 73,426 fans roaring and towels waving in hopes of distracting the unit, quarterback Matthew Stafford was nonplussed.
So much so that he said to wide receiver Davante Adams, “Let’s go snatch these guys’ hearts.”
Adams looked at Stafford and couldn’t help but smile.
“I thought that was one of the most gangster things you could say in that moment,” Adams said. “To hear him say that and the look on his face and then throw the touchdown and then the look on his face after that, just MVP stuff.”
The touchdown, the one that gave the Rams a 34-31 win and sent them to the divisional round? We’ll get to that in a moment. First, let’s set the scene.
Stafford had already delivered a go-ahead, 11-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. One in which he needed some help from receiver Puka Nacua to break up an interception in the end zone, and one in which he found Kyren Williams on an angle route for the requisite score.
When the Rams defense delivered a three-and-out on the ensuing Carolina possession, it felt like the Rams had taken control after a lackluster third quarter.
But a first-down holding call on right guard Justin Dedich put the Rams off schedule, and they had to punt. When safety Isaiah Simmons came off the edge and blocked Ethan Evans’ kick, the Panthers needed just four plays to go 30 yards and score a Jalen Coker touchdown.
The issue for Carolina, though, was that the clock wasn’t flashing zeroes yet. And the Rams had a man named Stafford taking the field.
“It’s Matthew. There was too much time,” defensive tackle Kobie Turner said. “They left him way too much time. We knew he was going to sit back there and deal.”
“Never a doubt. No. 9’s with us,” Nacua added.
For a while there, though, Stafford didn’t look much like himself. He had started the game 8-for-8. But he went 4-for-19 after that, including 0-for-4 to open the second half and an 0-for-7 stretch that was the longest without a completion in his five-year Rams tenure.
Part of that was due to him bending a finger on his throwing hand back on a pass attempt at the end of the second quarter. He shook his hand as he waited for the next play call, then flexed it on the sidelines before going to the locker room.
But when the training staff came up to him, he did not give them the opportunity to examine him.
“I think that just shows the character he has,” left guard Steve Avila said, invoking Stafford’s famous dislocated shoulder touchdown against the Browns early in his career. “That’s just who he is. You just finish games out like that, that’s what you can expect out of him.”
And the Rams expected, without a shred of doubt, that Stafford was about to lead them 71 yards for a touchdown.
And that’s just what he did, needing just seven plays to do so. First, a quick slant to Nacua to pick up seven yards, then picked up another 10 to Adams in the soft spot in the zone. After the two-minute warning, a button-hook by Adams moved the ball six yards further. Then Nacua broke inside for an 18-yard gain.
All the while, the 17-year veteran was savoring the moment.
“Pretty calm, pretty steady. I just felt like I was seeing the coverages really well,” Stafford said after the fact, his voice low and even as he described himself in similar terms. “I feel like I’ve been in that spot a lot in my life. Brings a smile to my face because I like being there.”
Stafford went 6-for-7 on the drive, the one incompletion a drop by Adams. Rookie Konata Mumpfield picked up a first down on the next play.
Then came the touchdown. Tight end Colby Parkinson ran a corner route to the goal line. But coverage was tight and Parkinson knew Stafford would need to throw to his back shoulder. The ball was delivered on target, and Parkinson twisted and crossed the goal line with 38 seconds to play.
At first, the reaction was muted; the Rams worried perhaps that Parkinson had stepped out of bounds. Head coach Sean McVay asked him if he had caught it. Parkinson said yes, then asked why no one was celebrating.
Sure enough, the call was confirmed and four incomplete Carolina passes later, Stafford could take a knee, his 54th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime complete.
“He was just in total command, total control,” McVay said. “That’s why we’re advancing, because of his leadership.”
Whom the Rams will play next weekend remains to be seen. Either the Seattle Seahawks or Chicago Bears, both of which would be road games.
But those details did not matter on Saturday. Neither do the mistakes, from a season-high nine penalties to an interception to the blocked punt. The Rams kept their season alive because Stafford wasn’t ready for it to end.
“I just want to go back to work with these guys. In the NFL, your team changes every single year and I’m not ready for that one to end yet,” Stafford said. “I love going to work with this group and just trying to do everything I can to make sure that we keep getting that opportunity.”