Volatility has prevented him from becoming one of the league’s top quarterbacks, while also keeping him in the discussion. And his supporters responded with a common refrain: that he was making throws that nobody else was making that his talent had long lifted a hapless Lions team.īoth are right! Stafford is an unfortunately mercurial passer. When the Rams traded for him, there were plenty of remarks about his legacy: He’s never won a playoff game or cemented himself as a top-tier quarterback after a decade of play even though he was a no. I’d argue that really nothing has happened-this is what Stafford is. In seven of his first eight weeks, Stafford had an adjusted yards per attempt over 9 both of the last two weeks have been below 5. So what happened these past two weeks? In that stretch Stafford ranked 22nd out of 24 qualifying quarterbacks in EPA per play and his turnover-worthy play rate jumped to 6.7 percent, while his depth of target dropped to 7.2 yards-the offense, which had scored fewer than 27 points only twice in eight games, scored 16 and 10 in consecutive weeks. Stafford has missed some throws, yes-his on-target throw percentage is 29th out of 34 qualified quarterbacks this year, at 68.6 percent-but his turnover-worthy play rate is only 3.2 percent, which is just a bit worse than league average, and the Rams offense has been humming with him at the helm. Stafford leads the league in expected points added per play this season his 8.5 yards’ average depth of target is comfortably above league average. We should note that Stafford and the Rams are playing really, really good ball on offense. Instead, I want to look at the offense, which has encountered its first bump in the road of the glorious Stafford era. I’m going to sidestep the “ Odell is a locker room cancer” take that’s already making the rounds, less than one week into his Rams tenure. There are a million different angles from which to look at the Rams’ recent slips. With losses by both Green Bay and Arizona in the past two weeks, the Rams had a chance to take control of the race for the first-round NFC bye now, they’re lagging behind. A week later, the Rams reloaded with Miller and Odell Beckham Jr., only to get embarrassed (again) by Kyle Shanahan (again!) on Monday Night Football, 31-10.
Los Angeles drew a tough Titans team in Tennessee’s first game without Derrick Henry and face-planted on Sunday Night Football, with two consecutive Stafford interceptions generating a 14-3 Titans lead that the Rams would never overcome. The 7-3 Rams are still one of the league’s best teams-but the 7-1 Rams sure seemed more like future champions. That’s why the last two games are worrisome.
But that’s the point: The Rams have seemed close to the Super Bowl for the past few seasons, and accordingly keep shoving and shoving, hoping to finally bring home the Lombardi Trophy. Now, it also felt like that when they traded for Matthew Stafford this offseason-and, heck, even when they traded for Jalen Ramsey a couple of seasons ago. When the Rams traded for pass rusher Von Miller two weeks ago, it felt like they were shoving their chips to the center of the table.