CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matthew Stafford threw a 19-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Rams to a dramatic 34-31 wild-card round win over the Carolina Panthers in the opening game of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 10: Colby Parkinson #84 of the Los Angeles Rams catches a 19 yard touchdown pass against Tre’von Moehrig #7 of the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Bank of America Stadium on January 10, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards with three touchdown passes, while Puka Nacua had 10 receptions for 111 yards and two total touchdowns as the Rams (13-5), who were 10 1/2-point favorites, advanced to the divisional playoffs.

Bryce Young threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score for Carolina (8-10), which finished the season losing four of its final five games. Jalen Coker had career highs with nine receptions for 134 yards with a touchdown and Chuba Hubbard ran for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

The Panthers fell behind 14-0 early, but stormed back to take a 24-20 lead on Hubbard’s second touchdown of the run game early in the fourth quarter.

Stafford, who was selected as an All-Pro earlier in the day, led the Rams back down on the field and found Kyren Williams for a 13-yard touchdown strike over the middle for a 27-24 lead.

Los Angeles appeared to be in charge after getting a stop on defense giving Stafford the ball back.

But a holding penalty put the Rams behind the sticks and forced a punt, which Isaiah Simmons blocked to set the Panthers up the Rams 30.

Four plays later, Young found Coker in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard scoring strike to give Carolina a 31-27 lead 2:39 left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 10: Jalen Coker #18 of the Carolina Panthers catches a 7 yard touchdown pass against Kam Curl #3 of the Los Angeles Rams during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Bank of America Stadium on January 10, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

But Stafford quickly moved the Rams 71 yards in seven plays with Panthers two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn on the sideline with a concussion, finishing it off with a perfectly placed pass to Parkinson near the right side of the goal line. Parkinson, who had two TDs last week, forced his way into the end zone for the score.

It was nearly the second time this season the Rams lost to the Panthers as a 10 1/2-point underdog. Carolina won 31-28 on Nov. 30.

Carolina’s last attempt to move into field-goal range ended when Jimmy Horn dropped a fourth down pass from Young.

Carolina was hoping the return of former quarterback Cam Newton to Bank of America Stadium to hit the “Keep Pounding” drum before the game would give the Panthers a little extra mojo early, but things didn’t start well.

After the Rams defense came up with a stop on fourth down at midfield on Carolina’s opening drive, Stafford quickly moved the offense downfield and found Nacua for a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 7-0 lead.

Nacua made it 14-0 on a 5-yard run following Young’s interception.

Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.

The Rams had a chance to build on the lead, but Nacau dropped a potential third TD on a pass down the right sideline from Stafford just before halftime.

Related Articles

Vikings kicker Will Reichard finally gets his flowers

Dallas Turner says he’s just ‘scratching the surface’ for the Vikings

If Vikings want to add another quarterback, here are some options

Packers’ Jordan Love believes he’s learned from previous playoff disappointments

The Loop NFL Picks: Wild Card weekend

With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations increasing in Minnesota, and following the killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, child care providers say learning and nurturing are being interrupted.

“We are all used to in Minnesota snow days, but we are now having ICE days, meaning that our kids are not able to learn, they are having their education cut because of ICE actions in our community,” said state Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-63A and a member of the House Children and Families Committee.

Sencer-Mura was part of a group sharing concerns Saturday at a press conference hosted by multifaith nonprofit ISAIAH at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis, a couple of miles from where Good was shot by an ICE agent.

Speakers criticized the Trump Administration for attempting to freeze state child care funding and local Republicans for inviting YouTuber Nick Shirley to make a video portraying what he described as child care fraud in the state. They said Shirley’s video has inspired some to harass schools and immigrant communities.

The also said active ICE operations are making their child care facilities less safe for kids, educators and parents.

Related Articles

Minnesota lawmakers denied access to view conditions at ICE detention center Saturday

Joe Soucheray: Under the deluding weight of political fealty, the center does not hold

Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good’s killing

Anti-ICE protesters assemble across the US after shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon

Minneapolis Public Schools offer remote learning through Feb. 12

“Whether or not we agree on policy is one thing, but the president ran a campaign on America First and said this was about getting criminals off the streets,” said Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-49B and chair of the Children and Families Committee. “Now American citizens are being killed in broad daylight and students are being tackled after school. None of this is about public safety anymore. In fact, ICE is destabilizing our communities and making us all less safe.”

A series of child care providers stepped up to describe experiences such as workers being detained on their way to work or leadership writing new protocols for what to do if ICE agents arrive at their buildings.

“Just hours after (Good) was killed on Wednesday, and just a few miles away, we saw ICE not take a beat, not rest, and instead go to our local high school (Roosevelt) and terrorize students, parents and community members at dismissal,” Sencer-Mura said. “We saw teachers being taken away. We saw our already traumatized community struggling to continue to keep each other safe. … They are traumatizing our kids.”

President Trump has deployed federal law enforcement in what the administration says is a necessary crackdown on crime and illegal immigration. On Thursday, the day after Good’s killing, Trump officials rejected claims by Minnesota officials that the deployment of immigration officers had been inflammatory and needed to end.

“The Trump administration will redouble our efforts to get the worst of the worst criminal, illegal alien killers, rapists and pedophiles off of American streets,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

By ANDREW DALTON

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir’s death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He’d spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead’s youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys’ Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria — Lindsey Vonn showed again Saturday she is the standout downhill racer in this Olympic season.

Vonn won her second World Cup downhill in four races this season, raising expectations in this remarkable comeback racing at age 41 with her right knee rebuilt using titanium implants.

The United States star was 0.37 seconds faster than Kajsa Vickhoff Lie in tricky, overcast conditions. Vonn was jumping up cheering in the leader’s box when her teammate Jacqueline Wiles raced into third place, 0.48 back.

On a shortened course that took her fewer than 67 seconds to complete, Vonn still clocked 130 kph (81 mph) for one of the fastest speeds any women racer will hit this season.

“It feels amazing. I try to enjoy every single second I am out here because it is just so fun to go fast,” she said.

Vonn crossed the finish line with a look of determined satisfaction, punching the air with her right fist and nodding with short, sharp movements of her head.

“I knew what it was going to take to win today,” she said. “It was a sprint and I had to give it everything I had, definitely had to risk a little bit.”

Vonn extends World Cup records

With each victory, Vonn extends her record as the oldest race winner in the 60-season history of the World Cup circuit. Her 84th career win on the circuit was her record-extending 45th in downhill.

The United States star later made a family video phone call alongside her coach Aksel Lund Svindal, the men’s downhill champion at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics where Vonn took bronze in the women’s race.

Vonn was Olympic downhill champion at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and shapes as a strong contender for the next gold medal race scheduled Feb. 8 on the first Sunday at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

It is at the storied Cortina d’Ampezzo slope where Vonn has excelled in her career, including a World Cup downhill win eight years ago where Wiles also was third.

“Being on the podium again with her is super special,” Wiles said.

Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic champion, was only 17th Saturday trailing Vonn by 0.97.

The defending Olympic champion, Corinne Suter, made her season debut Saturday after injuries and was more than a second slower than Vonn.

Banner day for US team

The U.S. team had five racers in the top 20 with world champion Breezy Johnson seventh, 21-year-old Allison Mollin a career-best 14th and Keely Cashman tied for 18th, less than a second behind Vonn.

The race was delayed for 25 minutes while Austrian prospect Magdalena Egger was airlifted from the course after a season-ending fall and crash into the safety nets. She stood up with a bloodied nose, and later tests showed extensive damage to her right knee including a torn ACL, the Austrian ski federation said.

Egger was runner-up in Vonn’s season-opening downhill win last month at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Vonn extended her lead in the season-long World Cup downhill standings, after finishing second and third in the other races. Saturday’s race was the fourth of nine scheduled downhills in the World Cup this season.

She earned 100 race points and now leads by 129 from Emma Aicher of Germany, who placed sixth Saturday. Vonn is chasing a ninth World Cup downhill season title a full 10 years after her eighth, when she also won in Zauchensee.

“I felt like I was skiing better in super-G this summer,” she said, “but when I got to the races in St Moritz everything was working really well right from the start.”

On Sunday, Vonn will start in a super-G that should be on a longer course than the downhill.

Related Articles

No flag, anthem or parade: An isolated Winter Olympics beckons for Russian athletes

What to know about biathlon at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

Glitter, grit and the 50-km grind: What to know about cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics

Ski jumping overshadowed by cheating scandal after Norway caught tampering with uniforms

What to know about Nordic combined and its Olympic future