Rams-Panthers: 5 takeaways from Week 13 loss

The winning streak is over. The Los Angeles Rams fell on the road to the Carolina Panthers, 31-28 in a shocking upset defeat.

There's no sugarcoating this game: The loss is a big one for L.A. It drops them to 9-3, but opens the door up for them to lose the No. 1 seed and the NFC West lead depending on how the rest of the season goes.

Nothing went right for the Rams in this one. While the offense put up 28 points, the defense gave up 25 points and Matthew Stafford turned the ball over three times — including a pick-six.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from the Week 13 loss.

Matthew Stafford is mortal

The MVP favorite going into Week 13 looked anything but that in this one. Stafford tossed an early touchdown to Davante Adams to break Tom Brady's record, but threw two interceptions on ensuing drives. Stafford then fumbled the ball in the Rams' final drive of the game, down three points, which set the Panthers up to run out the clock and win the game.

Stafford is still playing at an MVP level, but he proved in Week 13 that he's not untoucable.

Kyren Williams and Blake Corum continue to split

The Rams are committed to their running back duo. Williams led the Rams with 13 carries, but Corum actually had a more efficient game with 81 rushing yards. Both scored a touchdown, too.

In a game dreary, rainy game, the Rams needed to establish their running game to open up the passing game. It worked for the most part, as the Rams moved down the field easily on most of their drive. The issue is that the running game isn't generating too many explosive runs.

Defensive cracks emerged

The Rams only registered two sacks and allowed Panthers quarterback Bryce Young to throw for three touchdowns. That is not a winning recipe, especially given the Rams had only allowed 16 points before this game.

This was also the first time the Rams had not forced a turnover since Week 5.

Part of the problem, too, was giving up explosive plays. Panthers running back Chubba Hubbard scored on a 35-yard receiving touchdown and receiver Tetairoa McMillan scored a game-winning 43-yard touchdown.

Bad third-down offense

L.A. rarely sees third down, but didn't convert when given the chances in this game. The Rams went 2-for-5 on third down attempts, including the teams' first and only drive of the third quarter.

Part of this is on the shockingly staunch Panthers defense. But Carolina was also missing two of its top defensive backs. Stafford and Sean McVay should be better than this, especially after winning six consecutive games. But when you fail to convert on necessary drives, it comes back to bite you in the end.

No push up front on defense

We mentioned this earlier, but the Rams defensive front had nothing on the Panthers' offensive line in this game. Byron Young and Braden Fiske got the sacks ... but those were the only other quarterback hits in the game. Jared Verse made almost no impact in the pass-rush game, either.

More concerning, though, was the run defense. L.A. gave up 164 combined rushing yards, the most since Week 6. This has been a growing and troubling trend for the Rams defense, but have given up at least 123 rushing yards in three consecutive games.

This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams-Panthers: 5 takeaways from Week 13 loss