Panthers Aiming Higher After Beating Rams: ‘No One’s Seen Our Best Yet’

“Our best football is still out there in front of us, and that’s our goal ... to find it,” head coach Dave Canales said.

Bryce Young #9 of the Carolina Panthers passes the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 30, 2025. David Jensen/Getty Images

The Carolina Panthers shocked the NFL world by beating the first-place Los Angeles Rams 31-28 on Sunday. And while they are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFC playoff race, the team is eager to bring winning football back, 10 years after their Super Bowl 50 run.

“The challenge for the guys Saturday night was just saying we have seen the Rams’ best football, and they’ve been playing amazing, and I said, ‘no one’s seen our best yet,” head coach Dave Canales said at his postgame press conference. “Our best football is still out there in front of us, and that’s our goal, is to find it.”

The Rams scored a touchdown on their first possession. The Panthers responded with a TD of their own. The Rams made it to the red zone on their next drive, but an end zone interception by safety Nick Scott halted L.A.’s momentum. After punting the ball back to the Rams, cornerback Mike Jackson picked off Stafford again and returned it for a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead.

L.A. found the end zone twice in the second quarter to bring the score to 21-17 at the half. Carolina regained the lead in the third quarter. The Rams took it back early in the fourth, but the Panthers scored their own TD to flip the game back.

With 2:30 left in the game, defensive tackle Derrick Brown strip-sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and the ball was recovered by the defense. Quarterback Bryce Young converted the final third down and ended the game.

“[This win showed] that we can play with the best of them,” running back Rico Dowdle said after the game. “We came in facing the top NFC team. When we went into Green Bay, it was the same thing. ... We’ve got everything we need in this locker room to do what we need to do and make that push coming up in these next couple of weeks.”

It has been a long journey for the Panthers. After their loss in Super Bowl 50, the Panthers had just one winning season: 2017, when they went 11-5 and secured a Wild Card berth. They lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round.

At 7-6 heading into the bye week, Carolina is on the outside looking in for the playoffs.

With the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers all three games ahead of them, the Panthers’ best bet to make their first playoff appearance in 8 years is to win the division. Only half a game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they are in a perfect situation to pounce on the Bucs: two of their last four games are against Tampa; they also have a division game against the New Orleans Saints next week and a game against the Seahawks later this month.

Simply being in the conversation is a welcome change for the franchise.

“I prayed so many times for moments like this,” running back Chuba Hubbard said. “I’ve been in Carolina five years now, and the goal has been to bring wins to Carolina, bring good football to Carolina, no matter how that looks. So that’s always been my goal. ... And to see it coming to light now, it’s just a blessing.”

What drove the team to victory on Sunday, and what drives them to continued success? Canales called it humility and credited the leadership of players like Young and Brown. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan said it was resiliency, agreeing with Canales that the young team needs to show consistency on offense. Brown attributed it to selflessness, with players lifting each other up.

“I don’t care who does it, how it looks, as long as it gets done,” Brown said. “I‘ll sit here, and I’ll say it like this: this is the most selfless team I’ve been a part of. I mean, from the D-line room to the back end, we all celebrate one another. And that’s something that I hold on a high pedestal because when you got ’me' guys, then you won’t be able to form a culture here.”

Young put it down to determination.

“It’s never needed motivation,” he said. “It’s never needed motivation. It’s never needed an incentive to go and chase greatness.”