CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Cornerback Mike Jackson said he struggled to keep his composure all week after hearing repeatedly about just how good Matthew Stafford was -- and how the Carolina Panthers had no chance to beat the Los Angeles Rams with two starters out in the defensive backfield.
He and the Panthers took the challenge to heart.
Jackson returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown and the Panthers forced three Stafford turnovers to a get crucial 31-28 win on Sunday over the Rams.
"All week (the talk) was about how great he is and how he was like Superman with no cape," Jackson said. "At the end of the day it's about who's better today -- and we were. We got the ball out three times so we got the result that we wanted."
Things seemed to line up well this week for the Rams.
Stafford entered the game with a league-high 30 touchdown passes, including 18 in the past five games. And he was facing a Carolina defense without starting cornerback Jaycee Horn (concussion) and safety Tre'Von Moehrig (suspension) and playing on a short week after a Monday night game on the West Coast.
Early on it looked as if the Rams might roll over the Panthers, just as they did against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the week before.
Stafford stretched his NFL record of consecutive TD passes in a season without an interception to 28 with a 4-yard scoring toss to Davante Adams on the game's first possession.
Then things changed.
Panthers 2023 Pro Bowl defensive end and co-captain Derrick Brown tipped Stafford's red zone pass on the Rams next series and Nick Scott intercepted it in the end zone, snapping the streak and igniting the home crowd.
Stafford hadn't thrown an interception since Week 3 against the Eagles.
Jackson's pick-6 on Los Angeles' next series gave Carolina its first lead at 14-7. Brown helped seal the victory with a strip-sack on Stafford with 2:25 remaining as the Panthers, a 10-point underdog, walked away with a surprising 31-28 win as Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" blasted out the sound system at Bank of America Stadium.
"Don't get me wrong, he's a Hall of Famer," Jackson said of Stafford. "When he's having his Hall of Fame speech, I'm going to be thinking about this pick."
The Rams had come into the day a plus-12 in the turnover category.
The Panthers didn't commit any turnovers on Sunday.
"Obviously, we're not going to win a whole lot of games when I turn it over three times," Stafford said. "It hasn't been an issue and I don't expect it to be moving forward."
Stafford said he isn't worried about the Rams (9-3) losing momentum after seeing their six-game winning streak end.
"We have all of the right guys in the locker room," Stafford said. "You earn momentum in this league. You have to earn it throughout the week and play good on Sunday. I thought we had a great week of practice. It didn't translate into us playing well enough to get the win."
Rams coach Sean McVay doesn't seem too concerned with the loss either, adding that he's eager to see how his team responds on Sunday at NFC West foe Arizona.
"It's never a good story without a little bit of adversity," McVay said. "We're all in this together. We're tighter than we've ever been. And it's going to be a great opportunity to be able to respond."
As for the Panthers, this might be just what they need to end a seven-year playoff drought under owner David Tepper.
At 7-6, the Panthers haven't been above .500 this late in the season since they last went to the playoffs in 2017. They can draw some confidence knowing they've beat two of the NFC's top teams, having also defeated the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field 16-13 on Nov. 2.
The bye week should help the Panthers get healthy at a number of positions heading into the stretch run which includes two games against the NFC South-leading Buccaneers (7-5).
"If we're being honest, nobody gave us a chance to beat these guys after Monday night," Brown said referring to Carolina's 20-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. "We lost a lot of pieces of this defense. It just shows the resilience of this team and being able to come in this week and say, 'screw everything, we have an opportunity to go out here and play a really good team led by a good quarterback.' They have a lot of explosive pieces on their offense and for us to go out there and win today, it was big."