Matthew Stafford owns up to his mistakes in Rams’ loss to Panthers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Calm down.

Humility, as Sean McVay likes to say, is only a day away. And the Rams lived it Sunday.

McVay, quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Rams defense all were humbled in a 31-28 defeat by the Carolina Panthers before 71,292 at Bank of America Stadium.

Stafford’s stellar MVP-caliber play ended with two interceptions — his first since September — a crucial delay-of-game penalty and a lost fumble.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young sliced the Rams’ secondary for three touchdown passes, and running backs ran through what had been a mostly impenetrable defense.

But this was not a meltdown. It was costly but not disastrous.

Yes, the Rams’ six-game winning streak ended. Their record dropped to 9-3. They no longer hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

But it’s the NFL. Great players abound. Parity rules.

It happens.

The defeat tarnished the Rams’ record. But no team, not even the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins, breezes through its schedule.

The Rams lost the opportunity to extend their longest winning streak since 2018, when they won their first eight games and finished 13-3 en route to the first of their two Super Bowl appearances under McVay.

But they remain a Super Bowl contender. And neither McVay nor his players seemed to be sweating the loss.

“There’s never a good story without a little adversity,” McVay said as he ran his fingers through his rain-soaked hair.

McVay said all week that the red-hot Rams would shut out the noise after pundits pronounced them a Super Bowl favorite. He doubled down after the game, saying the Rams did not take the Panthers lightly.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” he said.

Neither did his players.

Edge rusher Byron Young described the loss as a “humbling experience.”

“I don’t look at it like a bad thing,” he said. “I just look at it as motivation.”

That’s how the Rams will use it, receiver Davante Adams said.

“I don’t think anybody in here was riding high like we were some invincible team,” said Adams, who caught two touchdown passes to increase his league-leading total to 14. “Obviously, it feels like that when you’re running off wins.

“But we didn’t necessarily need to be humbled or anything like that.”

Since their early losses to the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams had been rolling. If the offense was not scoring, the defense picked up the slack. If the defense struggled, Stafford and his flawless play produced victories.

But Stafford’s two touchdown passes, and touchdown runs by Blake Corum and Kyren Williams, were not enough against a Panthers team that improved to 7-6.

“Nobody saved the day today,” Adams said.

Stafford put the mistakes on himself. On a day when he moved past Matt Ryan into eighth place on the NFL’s all-time passing yardage list, Stafford’s streak of eight games without an interception ended.

“We’re not going to win a whole lot of games when I turn it over three times,” he said. “And it hasn’t been an issue and I don’t expect it to be moving forward.”

The first interception came late in the first quarter on a third-down play at the Panthers’ eight-yard line. Lineman Derrick Brown tipped a pass and former Rams safety Nick Scott grabbed the ball in the end zone.

It was the first time since the Week 3 defeat at Philadelphia that a Stafford pass was picked off. He had thrown an NFL-record 28 touchdown passes between interceptions.

“They did a nice job getting their hands up,” Stafford said.

Two passes later Panthers safety Mike Jackson picked one off and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.

“Can’t leave the ball inside and give them seven on that one,” Stafford said.

Stafford’s biggest and most uncharacteristic miscue came late in the fourth quarter with the Rams trailing, 31-28. On third and five at the Panthers’ 17, officials ruled that the Rams failed to get a snap off before the play clock expired.

“That’s on nobody but me,” Stafford said. “I’ve just got to get that thing off.”

On the next play Brown sacked Stafford and stripped the ball from his grasp. The Panthers recovered the fumble with 2:25 left and ran out the clock.

“It’s been awhile since we felt this way,” McVay said.

Nearly two months to be exact. The Rams rebounded from their Oct. 2 loss to the 49ers and surged to their short-lived spot atop the NFC, now occupied by the Chicago Bears.

“We’ve dealt with adversity before,” McVay said. “We’ll deal with it again.”

Next Sunday, the Rams play the 3-9 Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz. They finish with a home game against the Detroit Lions, a Thursday night game at Seattle, a road trip to Atlanta and a home game against the Cardinals.

The Rams intend to respond as they did after their last defeat. And humbly roll toward the playoffs.