NFL playoff picture: What Panthers win over Rams means in Week 13

The Carolina Panthers beat the Los Angeles Rams by a final score of 31-28, but that doesn’t begin to tell the story of this wild Week 13 matchup. It was a tale of two quarterbacks making big plays, both good and bad. Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions and coughed up a costly fumble late in the fourth quarter. Bryce Young made a pair of huge fourth down throws for touchdowns and that was the difference in this entertaining game.

With the win, the Panthers improve to 7-6 and are percentage points behind the Cowboys in the NFC wild card race Carolina sits in tenth place and are two games back of the 49ers for the final wild card berth. They also will remain a half game back of the Buccaneers in the NFC South race after Tampa Bay beat the Cardinals. Carolina gets a bye in Week 14 and then heads into a huge stretch. They travel to face a bad Saints squad, then host the Bucs and Seahawks, and close out the season in Tampa. They have a lot of work to do, but they don’t need any help to claim a playoff spot if they handle their business the final month of the season.

The Rams drop to 9-3 with the loss. While they remain atop the NFC West, they have dropped behind the Bears for the top seed in the NFC playoff standings. Chicago is also 9-3, but has the conference record tiebreaker for the time-being. Chicago is 6-2 in NFC contests, while the Rams dropped to 4-3. LA and Chicago will not meet during the regular season, so conference record is the first tiebreaker. LA travels to face the Cardinals in Week 14. They follow that at home against the Lions, traveling to the Seahawks and Falcons, and at home against the Cardinals.