On the same day he was named a unanimous first-team selection to the Associated Press’ NFL All-Pro team, Puka Nacua showed why he’s one of the league’s superstars.
The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver scored two touchdowns Saturday as the Rams rallied to beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31 in wild-card playoff action.
Nacua helped Los Angeles get out to a 14-0 lead in a game Carolina twice took the lead in the fourth quarter only for the Rams to regain the advantage.
That included Colby Parkinson making the game-winning 19-yard touchdown catch with 38 seconds to play.
On the Rams’ first possession of the game, Nacua caught three passes for 40 yards — punctuated by a 14-yard touchdown — to give Los Angeles the early lead, capitalizing after Carolina failed to convert a fourth and 1 play on its opening drive.
Two drives later, the former BYU and Orem High star scored on a 5-yard run to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Nacua ended up with 10 catches for 111 yards with the receiving touchdown as well as three carries for 14 yards with the second score.
He missed out on a potential touchdown in the final seconds of the first half, dropping what would have been a long run inside the Carolina 20 as he didn’t have a defender in front of him and potentially could have scored.
Perhaps his biggest play of the game, though, was when he played defense to preserve a scoring opportunity.
With Los Angeles facing a third and 1 at the Carolina 30 early in the fourth quarter, Nacua broke up a potential interception at the goal line on an errant Matthew Stafford pass.
Six plays later, Kyren Williams scored on a 13-yard reception to make it 27-24 Rams.
The Panthers rallied to go back out in front after blocking a Rams punt, as Jalen Coker scored from seven yards out to make it 31-27 Carolina with 2:39 to play.
That set up the Rams’ game-winning drive, as Los Angeles moved the ball 71 yards in seven plays for the game-winning score.
Nacua had two receptions for 25 yards on the possession.
Bears 31, Packers 27
One of Jordan Love’s best performances of the season was for not, as Green Bay allowed the Bears to come back from a 21-3 deficit in Saturday’s late-night wild-card matchup.
Love, the former Utah State standout, completed 24 of 46 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers went into halftime up 18 on Chicago, the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
After the Bears took the lead with 1:43 to play, Green Bay reached the Chicago 28 before Love’s final pass fell incomplete, ending the Packers’ season.
Love completed touchdown passes of 7, 18, 1 and 23 yards in the loss and also had one carry for 11 yards.
Former Utah cornerback Jaylon Johnson came out on the winning side — he ended up with three tackles and two pass deflections for the Bears.
Former BYU running back Chris Brooks had one carry for 16 yards and a reception for 11 yards for Green Bay.