Matthew Stafford entered the day having thrown only two interceptions on the season - he matched that number in the first half, including one returned for a touchdown by Mike Jackson, which led to the Los Angeles Rams being stunned on the road by the Carolina Panthers.
With the loss, the Rams relinquish the No. 1 seed in the NFC to the Chicago Bears in a conference that is now very up in the air. The Rams could still easily get themselves back into the top seed, but it's far from guaranteed.. They have a pair of winnable games against the Arizona Cardinals, the first of which is next week in Glendale, but they will face the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks in a span of five days from December 14-18.
Luckily for the Rams, the Bears have some tough sledding ahead of them, as well. They face the Green Bay Packers twice, go on the road to face the San Francisco 49ers, and close out their season against the Detroit Lions. Plus, they host a Cleveland Browns team that has a very good defense.
The Philadelphia Eagles are also alive in the race. They are one game behind both the Bears and Rams, holding the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, but lacking the advantage over Chicago following their loss on Black Friday.
It's a very tight race between the top three NFC teams. Other hopefuls like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and Green Bay Packers can't be left out, either. In total, seven NFC teams have eight or more wins and are all within one game of one another. This is as open as either conference has been in recent memory, and will make for an exciting back stretch of the 2025 season.
More NFL news:
Fire Patullo? Eagles fans unleash fury, demand OC firing after Black Friday loss to Bears
Why Bills star RB James Cook is key to neutralizing Steelers' T.J. Watt
Commanders coach leaving Washington to become Stanford head coach
Buffalo Bills place wide receiver on IR, season could be over