Matthew Stafford gets satisfaction out of points, not individual stats

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Matthew Stafford gets satisfaction out of points, not individual stats

Cameron DaSilva
October 28, 2021 5:48 am PT
Matthew Stafford has been better than many expected him to be in Los Angeles. Not only does he have the Rams sitting at 6-1 after seven weeks, but he’s put up huge numbers individually. He has the third-most passing yards (2,172), second-most touchdown passes (19) and is third in yards per attempt (9.0), ranking among the league’s best quarterbacks this season.

But he doesn’t get satisfaction out of ranking near the top of the NFL in individual passing statistics. He doesn’t pay much attention to that, saying Wednesday that he just tries to “go out and play each week and play as good as you can.”


“No, not in that way,” Stafford said of whether he gets satisfaction from ranking among the league’s best. “More so just in the fact that I feel like I’m trying to make sure I do my job for our team every week, whatever that job is. Some weeks, that’s go out there and throw it a bunch of times. Other times it’s not. But I just want to play well on each play. I don’t want to have any wasted plays. I want every play that we run for the defense to feel pressure and for us to execute at a high level. So, I’m trying to do that. If I can do that, I know I’ll be doing what I’m supposed to be doing for our team. If we can just continue to do that play in and play out, stack good plays, and win games, then the rest will happen.”

Sean McVay said this week that Sunday’s game against the Lions was Stafford’s most complete performance. He threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns in the 28-19 win, but more importantly, the Rams were 9-for-13 on third down and scored touchdowns three times in four red zone trips.

Stafford would agree that he played well, but he still saw some missed opportunities where he could’ve helped the offense score points – his primary goal on every drive.

“I think it was a solid one. I think as a team we were a whole lot better on third down, which is always nice. Third down, red zone, we were good,” he said. “There’s still a couple of possessions out there where we didn’t get any points where I wish we could have. My goal is to every time we touch the ball to get points. Those points, I always want those to be touchdowns, but if their field goals, they also count. A couple drives in there where we didn’t get points. We’d love to make sure that we get them on every single drive, but I take each kind of game for what it’s worth. What I’m asked to do in that game, I’d hope that I can execute it and help our team win. Certain weeks I’ve done that better than others.”

Stafford has certainly helped the Rams offense improve after a subpar 2019 season when they ranked 22nd in points and 11th in yards. This season, they’re fifth and eighth, respectively, and you could argue they haven’t even fully hit their stride.

One of the biggest differences from last season to this year has been the vertical passing game, an area of strength for Stafford. Defenses have to respect the deep ball more than they did last year, primarily because the Rams are taking those shots downfield and threatening the secondary deep.

“We’re still going after it. Defenses are doing a great job of trying to keep it top down on us and make sure we have to go long field,” Stafford said. “And then if they’re doing that, we just try to go out there and exploit the other areas of the field that have a little bit of grass. So, we’re just going to aggressively take what the defense gives us. They give us opportunities to go over the top, we’re going to take it. If they don’t and they want to play it deep to short, then I’m going to do everything I can do to make them pay in the intermediate to underneath areas.”

There are definitely areas where the Rams can improve offensively, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the job Stafford has done leading his new team on that side of the ball.