Winners & Losers: Matthew Stafford shows his true colors

With the NFC conference race tightening, the Los Angeles Rams and Matthew Stafford gifted a win to a bad Carolina Panthers team. LA falls to 9-3 on the season with the Seattle Seahawks on their heels in the NFC West division. The Panthers will enjoy a 31-28 victory.

At the start the Rams seemed as if they would coast to a win. Ronnie Rivers set up a game-opening score with a long kick return, and then the Panthers left Davante Adams open in the end zone. Adams was able to secure an inaccurate pass from Stafford, which was probably our first sign the veteran quarterback was in line for a rough game.

Losing the turnover battle is the oldest rule in football and an omen you are in for a long day.

Let’s dive into the individual performances and assess a post-mortem on the stunning loss.

Winners

Kevin Dotson, RG

If there was one player that was absolutely dominant in this game, it was Kevin Dotson. He simply looked like the best player on the field. Dotson road graded in the run game and was as stout as you can be in pass protection.

The Rams’ per rush yardage was impressive and it was overall a productive day on the ground. Dotson played a major role in opening run lanes.

• Kyren Williams: 13 rushes for 72 yards, TD (5.5 avg)

• Blake Corum: 7 rushes for 81 yards, TD (11.6 avg)

Blake Corum, RB

If the Rams had a do-over, they would probably want to run Corum more than they did. He was obviously the more efficient and better runner against the Panthers; however, he was only given roughly half as many carries as Williams.

While the offensive line played well, Corum simply was creating yardage beyond what was blocked. He found edges and cutback lanes and exploded into the secondary on multiple occasions. It was a day where LA could have done more to feed the hotter hand.

Braden Fiske, DT

There wasn’t a ton of pressure on Bryce Young in this game, and the Panthers didn’t ask him to do much outside of a few key late downs. When the Rams did pressure Young, it seemed that Fiske was the most consistent rusher. He missed a sack in the red zone, but Carolina was still held to a field goal.

You can’t really blame Fiske for the run defense woes. This is not a facet of his game that he fares well in. The Rams should and do know better and take him off the field in rushing situations.

Puka Nacua & Davante Adams, WR

Puka Nacua made what is perhaps the catch of the NFL season, and saved Stafford from another interception. It’s beautiful when receivers can take a turnover-worthy play by their quarterback and shift the odds in their team’s favor. Nacua finished with six catches on nine targets for 72 yards. He disappeared at times outside of the screen game, and the offense simply is more productive when the game flows through him.

Davante Adams had another strong game in the red zone. He hauled in two more touchdown receptions in addition to 58 receiving yards.

The veteran receiver does need to be more productive between the 20-yard lines. This game isn’t the one to complain about because he caught two longer receptions that helped the team move downfield. It does feel predictable that you almost don’t need to worry about Adams until you get closer to scoring position.

Losers

If you could erase these two negative performances, the Rams probably beat the Panthers handily. It’s rare you see two players so individually responsible for a loss; however, that is how the cards fell on Sunday.

Matthew Stafford, QB

On LA’s second offensive possession, Stafford threw a turnover-worthy play towards Nacua in the front of the end zone. The very next play he threw an end zone interception. On the ensuing drive he gifted the Panthers a pick-six and spotted them the early lead—the Rams were seemingly playing catch up for the rest of the game. Stafford was being too aggressive (possibly leaning into the MVP chatter) and not taking the easy plays.

It can only take one bad game to derail an MVP campaign, and that is where Stafford finds himself currently.

It was always unusual for a 17-year vet to play the best football of his career. Stafford’s performance so far this year has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. He received a dose of reality on Sunday and came back down to earth, which was always predictable and easily foreseeable.

Just as being an MVP front-runner was out of character for Stafford, so was leading the NFC conference. There’s a reason Stafford’s Detroit Lions teams were middling, and it’s because he simply doesn’t do the little things to win football games often enough.

With the Rams down three points and in scoring position late, Stafford was again overly aggressive and held onto the ball on third and 10. The result was a strip sack and the effective end of LA’s comeback attempt. This is not a mistake you would expect someone with nearly two decades of NFL experience to make, but again this is a hallmark of Stafford’s career.

Which version of Stafford will we see moving forward? Is this a sign of things to come?

Emmanuel Forbes, CB

The blame cannot all be attributed to Stafford. Emmanuel Forbes was also awful in this game and allowed two long touchdown receptions in coverage. Jalen Coker beat him for a 33-yard touchdown on fourth down, and rookie Tetairoa McMillan torched Forbes again on fourth down for a 43-yard score.

Here’s the thing. Forbes has been fortunate in coverage lately with underthrows on potential touchdowns that allowed him to recover. Is he still improved from his play early in the season? Yes.

Forbes is still probably the answer opposite of Cobie Durant. Ahkello Witherspoon played a limited role but still had a few less-than-stellar moments. He’s almost certainly not the answer.

Kobie Turner & Tyler Davis, DT

By my eye, Poona Ford was stout in run defense. I think the breakdowns mostly came from Kobie Turner and Tyler Davis. Carolina was able to chew up most of the third quarter with a productive rushing attack, and it also allowed them to take the game out of Young’s hands.

• Hubbard: 17 carries for 83 yards

• Dowdle: 18 carries for 58 yards

• Young: 5 carries for 23 yards