Game Changers: ‘Cold’ Matthew Stafford Delivers ‘MVP Stuff’ to End Panthers Season

Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte) – The Rams had just had a punt blocked, leading to a Panthers touchdown for the lead with 2:34 left. With a loud crowd of 73,426 fans cheering, quarterback Matthew Stafford looked at receiver Davante Adams as they walked onto the field for a final drive.

“Let’s go snatch these guys’ hearts,” he said.

And then he did it.

“That was pretty cold,” Adams said in the locker room, moments after the Rams pulled out a 34-31 win to advance out of Wild Card Weekend. “To hear that, I literally smiled in that moment. That’s one of the most gangster things you can say. To hear him say that and see the look on his face, and then he throws a touchdown and the look on his face after that, that’s MVP stuff.”

For a moment, it had looked like Panthers quarterback Bryce Young would get the comeback glory, as he threw a touchdown pass to receiver Jalen Coker to retake the lead after the blocked punt. Stafford was surgical on the final drive, with two passes each to Puka Nacua and Adams to get to the Carolina 30 with 1:15 left. 

Then he went away from his Pro Bowl playmakers to trust rookie receiver Konata Mumpfield on his only target of the night for 11 yards. Then, on his best throw of the night, he threw to the right pylon, finding tight end Colby Parkinson for a 19-yard touchdown and the lead with 38 seconds left.

“It was a perfect throw,” Parkinson told me in a jubilant Rams locker room, noting that he initially wasn’t sure if he stayed in bounds as he found the end zone after his twisting sideline catch down the right sideline. “The guy played it pretty well, he was over the top, and Matthew put a perfect ball up, back shoulder, where I was able to go up and make a play.”

Stafford had already rallied the Rams to the lead once in the fourth quarter, throwing a 13-yard touchdown to running back Kyren Williams for a 27-24 lead with 8:47 left, only to have the Panthers answer with a touchdown of their own. 

Stafford’s fourth-quarter numbers: 12-for-15 for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

“They call him Freddy Krueger for a reason,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said in the locker room after watching the final drive from the sidelines with confidence in his offense. “There’s a reason why he has a lot of postseason final-drive wins. He’s the MVP, undoubtedly. He’s a guy that’s had this postseason experience, a guy that leads our team, so you can trust him in any situation.”

Stafford’s tally now is 42 fourth-quarter comebacks – including three in the playoffs – and 54 game-winning drives, including four in the postseason.

“I’ve been in that spot in my life. I love that spot,” he said. “I’d rather it be me having to go out there with our offense and do it than to watch it. You can make it stressful, or you can make it, you know, calm and collected. I feel like that’s what we were today.”

Stafford had 46 touchdown passes in the regular season, 12 more than any other NFL quarterback, and he was named Saturday as the AP All-Pro first-team quarterback, often a sign of an MVP award coming next month. That’s a regular-season honor that can be reduced to a footnote if you can’t find the same success in the playoffs, but Stafford’s performance on Saturday keeps the Rams’ playoff dreams alive.

“They found a way to be at their best in the most important moments,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said at the podium. “We get a kick blocked, they end up scoring, and then Matthew orchestrates an unbelievable drive. Bunch of guys made a bunch of big-time plays. 

“… It’s been par for the course – Matthew trusting his guys, guys delivering in the critical moments.”

The Rams had lost their last two road playoff games, and Saturday’s finish was a lot like their last, going to Tampa in the 2021 playoffs, seeing the Bucs rally from 24 points down to tie the game in the final minute, only to have Stafford hit Cooper Kupp to set up a game-winning field goal as time expired.

“That’s what you work for, right?” Stafford said. “When you do all these hours in your life, being a kid in the backyard throwing the ball around, saying ‘OK, this is the situation, we’ve got to make it happen,’ and then getting to do it throughout my football career, an opportunity like tonight.

“… I love those situations. I live to do it. It’s great to do it on the road, quiet a nice crowd today. We’ll take it.”

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!