INGLEWOOD — If there were really any doubts that Matthew Stafford would be ready for the Rams’ opening day, I suspect he didn’t share them.
For much of training camp and the preseason, Stafford’s back was the most important topic, and when he was supposed to begin throwing but didn’t, those who care about the Rams were on high alert. But that seems to have been more of a case of slow-playing his activity to make sure he’d be ready.
And ready he was Sunday afternoon, in L.A.’s 14-9 victory over the Houston Texans. He didn’t necessarily light up the scoreboard; Kyren Williams‘ 1-yard scoring run gave the Rams a 7-6 lead less than a minute before halftime, and Stafford found tight end Davis Allen with a 13-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to make it 14-9. Most of the rest of the afternoon consisted of managing the game while the Rams’ defense kept C.J. Stroud and his Houston teammates out of the end zone.
But in completing 21 of 29 for 245 yards, a touchdown and a passer rating of 109.1, Stafford also made history. With a simple 6-yard completion to Puka Nacua in the fourth quarter, he became the 10th quarterback in the history of the NFL to surpass 60,000 passing yards for a career.
“He came to me and s
aid, ‘Man, I’m glad the ball went to you,’” Nacua said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, thanks for the like. I was pretty sure the ball was supposed to come to me.’
“And then I look up at the big screen and it says, ‘Matthew Stafford’s at 60,000. And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry. I understand (now) why you said that.’”
Stafford is not yet ready for lifetime achievement awards, per se; there are still games to win and Super Bowls to pursue. But 60,000 – 60,054 by game’s end, to be precise – did provide him an opportunity to reflect on how he got here.
“It brings back a lot of memories,” he said.
“You know, I’ve been blessed to play this game for a long time with a bunch of great players. The cool thing about (playing) quarterback and my thought about it is, you know, I can’t throw for any of those yards without every other player on the field, ten other guys that are doing their jobs. And so it’s really cool that I share it with so many people and so many teammates and a bunch of coaches, you know, and my family and everybody that’s helped me get there.”
There wasn’t time for a full reminisce, but consider: Stafford’s first season with the Detroit Lions was 2009. He didn’t become a full-time starter until his third season. He led the league in attempts only twice, his first two seasons as the starter in 2011-12, and in completions only in 2012. And many of the teams for which he played during those 12 seasons in Detroit were, to be charitable, not good. Only two were above .500, the last of those in 2014.
The trade that brought Stafford to the Rams for Jared Goff before the 2021 season has been beneficial for all four entities: the two quarterbacks and the two teams. The importance here is that Stafford’s first season as a Ram resulted in his first Super Bowl championship, the franchise’s second overall and first in L.A.
The three seasons that he’s been fully healthy, the Rams have reached the postseason, and they were within just a few yards and maybe a play or two of beating the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles in last season’s second round. So while the Rams may have protected themselves in the offseason by bringing in Jimmy Garoppolo as a veteran backup, it’s evident that if they’re going to play for a championship, Stafford is going to be the quarterback who gets them there.
“For him to go over 60,000 yards, it’s unbelievable,” coach Sean McVay said. “Real testament to the consistency of what he’s done.”
McVay talked about the resilience and mental toughness of this roster, as shown by its ability to stay in the fight and make the key plays when needed. And so I asked him if, in this case, that toughness starts with the quarterback.
“I think a lot of it,” he said. “I think your leaders end up embodying and becoming really the personality that the team takes on. And so, really grateful to have somebody that’s as resilient, as steady, as calm in the midst of the chaos as what he is. But he’s also got this fire and this competitiveness that I think is great for this game.
“We got a lot of guys like that. But certainly with Matthew, (it’s) the reason why he’s basically voted unanimously as a captain year in and year out since he’s been here. And so we’re really grateful to have him lead the way.”
That resilience probably also helped him deal with that at times balky back. He said he wasn’t antsy during the run-up to the season – “I think I was just excited to get back out there and play, happy to (have) been on the practice field now for I think three weeks, something like that,” he said – and he said that once under center in a real game Sunday he didn’t entertain any thought of what might go wrong physically. You can’t, really, especially in this sport.
“Maybe that’s stupid,” he said, drawing laughter. “But, you know, I just go out there and play. There’s some plays that I think I can be better and try to avoid some more negatives for us and do a better job there. But it felt great to get back out there. It’s been a long time coming – and not only for myself,” he added, mentioning left tackle Alaric Jackson, who missed much of the off-season and preseason work with blood clots in his lower leg but was in the lineup Sunday.
It is worth noting those who preceded Stafford in the 60,000 club: Tom Brady (89,214), Drew Brees (80,358), Peyton Manning (71,940), Brett Favre (71,838), Ben Roethlisberger (64,088), Philip Rivers (63,440), Aaron Rodgers (63,196, including his 244 yards for the Steelers Sunday), Matt Ryan (62,792) and Dan Marino (61,361).
Of those, Brady, Brees, Favre and Rodgers all played 20-plus seasons; Rodgers is in his 21st.
Stafford’s in his 17th. He’s got time to zoom up that list.
jalexander@scng.com
