Matthew Stafford wins NFC Offensive Player of the Week in Rams debut

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

Matthew Stafford’s debut with the Los Angeles Rams couldn’t have gone much better than it did on Sunday night against the Chicago Bears. He completed 20 of 26 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns, posting a career-high 156.1 passer rating.

For his outstanding performance, Stafford has been named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season. His numbers were among the best of his career, and given the context of this being his first start with the Rams, it’s only fitting that he win the award in his debut.


Jalen Ramsey said Stafford’s performance was “a debut that probably should go down in history,” just about nailing it on the head. Not only did Stafford win an award for his 321-yard game, but he also set the NFL record for the highest passer rating (156.1) ever by a player in his debut with a new team.

This is just the second time Stafford has won NFC Offensive Player of the Week, with the other instance coming in Week 11 of his rookie year in 2009. So he went almost 12 full years between awards.

He’ll try to follow this up with another great outing against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon, a defense that was carved up by Russell Wilson to the tune of 254 yards and four touchdowns on only 23 attempts.