Derrick Brown just unmistakably confirmed what Panthers kept to themselves

All week, the conversation was about what the Carolina Panthers didn’t have before their daunting Week 13 home game against the Los Angeles Rams.

No Jaycee Horn. No Christian Rozeboom. No Tre’von Moehrig. A defense missing three core starters, staring down Matthew Stafford, Davante Adams, Puka Nacua, and the best offense in the league.

Add in the cross-country hangover after getting embarrassed by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, and this looked like a scheduled loss. But what nobody talked about was who the Panthers did have. And the NFL was reminded (loudly) that Derrick Brown is still one of the league’s most disruptive forces.

Derrick Brown stepped up when the Carolina Panthers needed their talisman most

With the Panthers clinging to a 31-28 lead and Stafford marching the Rams into the red zone for what felt like the inevitable go-ahead score, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero dialed up a four-man rush. Tershawn Wharton beat his blocker first, forcing the NFL MVP frontrunner to step into the teeth of the pocket. That’s where Brown lives.

Brown delivered a vicious club move on Rams guard Steve Avila, slipped inside untouched, and unloaded on Stafford, swiping the ball out. D.J. Wonnum pounced on the fumble, and the Panthers closed out their most important win since David Tepper bought the team. And the strip-sack wasn’t even his first massive moment.

Stafford entered Week 13 having thrown 317 passes without an interception, the longest streak in NFL history. He broke the record early with a touchdown to Adams. Then, Brown broke the streak minutes later.

On third down in the red zone, Stafford’s pass ricocheted off Brown’s helmet and fluttered into Nick Scott’s hands. Two throws later, Mike Jackson Sr. jumped a route and took his next pass 48 yards for a pick-six.

The Panthers did more than force Stafford’s first turnover since Week 3; they took the ball from him three times, two of which Brown directly impacted. The Pro Bowler has seven pass deflections in 13 games, first in batted passes with six, and is ranked the eighth-best interior defensive lineman with a grade of 77.7 from Pro Football Focus.

For a guy who carried Carolina’s defense in 2023 and was sorely missed in 2024 after a season-ending knee injury, this was the fully realized version the Panthers believed in when they gave him a four-year, $96 million extension.

If there was any doubt about Brown’s standing, Robert Hunt erased it with a single tweet.

A year ago, the Panthers had the worst run defense in football, a unit that couldn’t stop anyone up front and collapsed the moment Brown was lost for the season. His return has changed everything.

If Brown continues playing at an All-Pro level, Carolina is a legitimate NFC threat with a ceiling far higher than anyone expected.