Forget odds, Rams path to win over Panthers is staring them right in the face

The 12-5 Los Angeles Rams lost to the 8-9 Carolina Panthers in Week 13. That closely contested loss was marred by a mistake-riddled performance by Los Angeles, a performance that is unlikely to be repeated in the postseason. Still, the Panthers won, which begs a deeper dive into their tactics that secured the win.

So, let's re-examine that loss to detect coachable moments:

1. Tempo

While LA jumped out to a touchdown lead, Carolina did not abandon its game plan. It controlled the tempo, the Time of Possession, and the game by over-committing to run the football. The Panthers rushed 40 times and passed just 20 times, forcing the Horns to commit more defensive backs to play in the box.

The gamble paid off, as the Panthers seldom trailed and scored quickly when they fell behind. LA's game plan of emphasizing the pass despite an effective rushing attack proved to be a vital error.

2. Turnovers

It's difficult to win an NFL game when a team loses the turnover battle. In Week 13, LA turned the football over three times and did not create a single turnover. That's a huge deficit to overcome. It can be argued that the turnovers resulted in a 20-point difference in Carolina's favor.

The impact of turnovers in the loss was so great that head coach Sean McVay emphasized practicing creating turnovers on defense and ball security on offense. Will it work? Well, if it doesn't, shame on the players.

And the greatest lesson learned by Rams in Week 13

The shock to fans still lingers. The Horns lost a game that they appeared to be in command of. And the offense seemed to leave both yards and points on the field. How is it that the offense could average 7.4 yards per play and still find a way to lose?

Time of Possession

Perhaps the most damning bits of evidence from the game were the Time of Possession disparity. Carolina controlled the football for more than 10 minutes longer than LA, and that was the difference.

The offense cannot score unless it is on the football field. And the defense struggles to make stops when it cannot get off the football field.

In the first quarter of the Week 13 contest, both team offenses scored an offensive touchdown. The Panthers' defense recorded two interceptions, one pick-six, that put LA into an early hole.

Whenever LA's offense needed to make a play, it seemed to shoot itself in the foot. The first quarter score should have ended with the Yellow and Blue ahead by 14 points. Instead, it trailed by seven points.

That created the perfect scenario for a Panthers game plan of controlling the clock and the football. The Panthers rushing attack was not unstoppable. Rather, it was a shrewd strategy of inflicting a million paper cuts on a defense that grew more desperate to make a stop or create a turnover.

That desperation proved to be too much for a road-weary defense.

So how can the LA Rams use this costly lesson to change the outcome? Reverse the polarity. That means that Los Angeles needs to control the tempo, the turnovers, and the time of possession to claim a win and advance. You can bet that head coach Sean McVay knows this.

Now you know it too.

As always, thanks for reading.