CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Between the egg the Carolina Panthers laid in San Francisco and what they were up against in Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, it was easy to write this one off as a scheduled loss — especially with who the Panthers were missing on defense.
Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn was in the concussion protocol. Leading tackler Christian Rozeboom was out with hamstring and hip injuries. Safety Tre’von Moehrig, the second-leading tackler, was suspended for the game for hitting 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings below the belt on “Monday Night Football.”
With all the focus on who the Panthers didn’t have, everyone overlooked who the Panthers did have Sunday: Derrick Brown, a former Pro Bowler and perennial havoc creator.
But with the Panthers trying to hold on against Stafford in the final minutes, there was Brown storming into the backfield, knocking the ball loose from the NFL’s leading MVP candidate and preserving a 31-28 victory that was the franchise’s biggest since David Tepper bought the team in 2018.
“DB being DB, man,” A’Shawn Robinson said of his defensive line mate. “Showing up when needed. That’s what matters.”
Brown made the Pro Bowl and set a record for tackles by a defensive lineman two years ago. But his strip-sack of Stafford, recovered by outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum with 2:25 left, was arguably the most important play of his six-year career.
“It was a big one in the moment (given) who it was on and where they were at on the field,” Brown said. “So yeah, it was a big one.”
After Bryce Young connected on a 43-yard, fourth-down touchdown, Stafford took over at the Rams’ 28 with 6:29 remaining trailing by a field goal. There had already been two lead changes in the fourth quarter. And with Stafford zipping completions to Davante Adams and Puca Nacua, the Rams (9-3) looked poised to reclaim it.
Then a smallish-but-mighty crowd on a rainy day at Bank of America Stadium got loud, resulting in a delay of game penalty that forced the Rams into a third-and-10 from the Panthers’ 22. Panthers coach Dave Canales thought fans played a role on the third-down play as well, forcing the Rams to go on movement instead of cadence.
“It just felt like we got a jump on that rush,” he said.
Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero rushed four, with defensive tackle Turk Wharton beating right guard Kevin Dotson and forcing Stafford to step up in the pocket. On the other side of the line, Wonnum had the choice to use an outside or inside rush: The former Minnesota Vikings edge rusher went inside, getting past left tackle Alaric Jackson and barreling into left guard Steve Avila, who was blocking Brown.
With Avila already off balance, Brown used a club technique to knock him out of the way and go after Stafford, who never saw Brown swipe at the ball and jar it free. Wonnum scooped it up and returned it 20 yards to midfield before an unsportsmanlike penalty on the sideline backed the Panthers up 15 yards.
Brown said the Panthers’ third takeaway against Stafford was a group effort.
“Turk getting high on the backside, forcing him to step up in the pocket. I was just wrapping around D.J. He had an option and he came in and crashed the guard, and got him off me,” Brown said. “Then I came around and happened to come scot-free. I hit the quarterback and then D.J. got the ball. So it couldn’t work out any better than that.”
Brown, the former Auburn star who was the seventh pick in 2020, had not forced or recovered a fumble in 79 games before Sunday. He picked an opportune time for No. 1.
“I was honestly surprised that was his first fumble,” left tackle Ikem Ekwonu said. “The way he gets back there and the way he disrupts the game, I would’ve thought he would’ve had more of those. But obviously stepped up big for us today.”
Before Brown’s sack, the Panthers (7-6) only had one hit on Stafford — rookie Lathan Ransom’s third-quarter sack on a blitz. But even without much pressure, the Panthers were able to affect Stafford like no defense had done in 10 weeks.
The 37-year-old Stafford hadn’t thrown an interception since a Week 3 loss to Philadelphia. And when he connected with Adams on a 4-yard score on the opening possession, Stafford had broken a NFL record with 28 consecutive touchdown passes without an interception.
And then the Panthers picked him off on each of the next two series. Naturally.
Brown had a hand in the first interception. Actually, it was his head: When Stafford’s third-down pass caromed off Brown’s helmet and into Nick Scott’s arms in the end zone, it ended a streak of 317 passes without an interception.
Nick Scott celebrates his interception in the end zone during the first quarter of Carolina’s 31-28 victory Sunday. (Scott Kinser / Imagn Images)
His next one would come just two passes later, when cornerback Mike Jackson jumped Nacua’s out route, picked off Stafford and sprinted 48 yards for his first career interception return for a touchdown. Jackson, playing in Horn’s usual boundary corner spot, shouted out rookie Nic Scourton for laying out Stafford during Jackson’s runback.
It might have been a short holiday week for the Panthers after playing on Monday night. But it was long enough for Jackson to get sick of all the talk about Stafford, who was 18-of-28 passing for 243 yards and two touchdowns, with three turnovers.
“All week they all just kept talking about how great he is and how he’s Superman with no cape. At the end of the day, it’s about who’s better today. We were. We got the ball out three times, so we got the result we wanted,” Jackson said.
“I had to keep my composure because y’all was just acting like (he’s) the man,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong: He’s a Hall of Famer. When he’s having his Hall of Fame speech, I’m gonna be thinking about this pick. He’s great. But at the end of the day it’s about who’s better that day.”
Bryce Young was better than Stafford on this day, as Young added a big spike to his up-and-down season. Young completed 15 of 20 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and finished with a career-high 147.1 passer rating, second only to Cam Newton’s 153.3 mark (against Atlanta in 2015) in team history.
Young delivered two of his TDs on fourth down — a 33-yard dime to Jalen Coker and a 43-yarder to Tetairoa McMillan on the rookie’s only reception.
After Brown’s strip-sack, Young connected with Coker on a 10-yard gain on third-and-5 that allowed the Panthers to run out the clock.
Defensively, Ransom led all tacklers with 11 in his first career start, while Wonnum’s fumble recovery represented his biggest play during a season in which he’s been held without a sack in 12 games.
But the save went to Brown, who tried unsuccessfully to find Stafford on the field afterward to see if he’d swap jerseys. “He got outta there after the game. I couldn’t see him. But much respect to him,” Brown said. “He’s a Georgia guy. I don’t really like Georgia. But other than that, respect for sure.”
As the crowd of reporters around Brown started to thin, he took a couple questions about the Panthers’ playoff positioning: With Tampa Bay (7-5) winning Sunday, the Bucs retained their half-game lead on the Panthers in the NFC South.
But mostly, Brown was looking forward to a break. Along with three other teams, the Panthers had to wait until Week 14 for their bye.
“I’m ready to get to the bye week. It’s been a long-ass season so far,” he said. “I’m ready to go the bye week, get my body back healthy and then be able to come out here and finish out these games.”
Brown finished this one in a big way, earning some well-deserved time off with his family.
“I’m gonna hang out with my kids and be Daddy,” he said, smiling. “That’s it.”