Matthew Stafford was one of the most talked-about acquisitions of the NFL offseason when the Los Angeles Rams acquired him from the Detroit Lions. In his first season with the Rams, Stafford helped lead Los Angeles to a 12-5 record (his first season with 12-plus wins) and he aided them in securing the NFC West (his first division crown).
Despite being a key reason why the Rams have an opportunity to compete for a Super Bowl, Stafford has his flaws, which is why ESPN’s Seth Walder ranked him as the eighth-best quarterback in the postseason.
I ranked the 14 QBs in the playoffs: https://t.co/ZDxFnCEMym
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 13, 2022
Stafford finished the regular season with 4,886 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. He tied his career-highs in completion percentage (67.2%) and passing touchdowns, but his 17 interceptions tied rookie Trevor Lawrence for the most in the NFL this season.
There shouldn’t be much of an argument on whether or not Stafford was an upgrade over Jared Goff. Stafford brings more to the table than Goff and even though he excels when things go perfectly, Stafford can do some things out of structure that Goff can’t.
The 17 interceptions by Stafford are certainly concerning, especially with eight of them coming in the final four weeks of the regular season. There are times where Stafford elects to force the issue on plays that aren’t there, which tends to lead to ugly interceptions.
The seven quarterbacks ranked ahead of Stafford are Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, and Dak Prescott. Of course, Stafford will be squaring off with Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night for the third time after splitting the season series.
In his career, Stafford has gone 0-3 in the playoffs, but those losses came as a member of the Lions, so it shouldn’t be used against him. But with Stafford having a win-now team put in place in Los Angeles, the pressure is certainly elevated for him to deliver in the postseason.
This is a perfect chance for Stafford to show that he’s being overlooked among the other quarterbacks that are in the playoffs.
