Matthew Stafford did everything in his power to win Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Lions. He couldn’t have played much better than he did, completing 25 of 36 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
It was his best performance of the entire season, playing a near-perfect game from start to finish. And more often than not, quarterbacks with numbers like his win football games.
That’s what makes the Rams’ loss so rare, given the stats Stafford put up.
According to Stathead, only four other quarterbacks in NFL history have ever lost a playoff game where they had at least 350 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. The others were Deshaun Watson against the Chiefs in the 2019 playoffs, Tom Brady in the Super Bowl against the Eagles, Alex Smith against the Colts in 2013 and Drew Brees against the Seahawks in 2010.
Stafford’s 120.9 passer rating is the seventh-highest of any quarterback with at least 10 pass attempts in a playoff loss, which puts into perspective just how well he played despite the Rams failing to come away with a victory.
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Week | Date | Age | Team | Opp | Result | Cmp | Att | Inc | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Rate | Sk | Yds | Sk% | Y/A | AY/A | ANY/A | Y/C | Succ% | |
| 1 | Matthew Stafford | 19 | 2024-01-14 | 35-341 | LAR | @ | DET | L 23-24 | 25 | 36 | 11 | 69.4 | 367 | 2 | 0 | 5.6 | 0.0 | 120.9 | 2 | 10 | 5.26 | 10.2 | 11.31 | 10.45 | 14.7 | 57.9 |
| 2 | Deshaun Watson | 19 | 2020-01-12 | 24-120 | HOU | @ | KAN | L 31-51 | 31 | 52 | 21 | 59.6 | 388 | 2 | 0 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 95.7 | 4 | 26 | 7.14 | 7.5 | 8.23 | 7.18 | 12.5 | 42.9 |
| 3 | Tom Brady | 21 | 2018-02-04 | 40-185 | NWE | N | PHI | L 33-41 | 28 | 48 | 20 | 58.3 | 505 | 3 | 0 | 6.3 | 0.0 | 115.4 | 1 | 5 | 2.04 | 10.5 | 11.77 | 11.43 | 18.0 | 53.1 |
| 4 | Alex Smith | 18 | 2014-01-04 | 29-242 | KAN | @ | IND | L 44-45 | 30 | 46 | 16 | 65.2 | 378 | 4 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.0 | 119.7 | 2 | 15 | 4.17 | 8.2 | 9.96 | 9.23 | 12.6 | 43.8 |
| 5 | Drew Brees | 18 | 2011-01-08 | 31-358 | NOR | @ | SEA | L 36-41 | 39 | 60 | 21 | 65.0 | 404 | 2 | 0 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 95.4 | 1 | 7 | 1.64 | 6.7 | 7.40 | 7.16 | 10.4 | 52.5 |
Stafford outplayed Jared Goff and had arguably one of the best games of any quarterback in the wild-card round, throwing for the second-most passing yards, behind only Dak Prescott in the Cowboys’ loss.
The only shortcoming for Stafford against the Lions was his red zone play, going just 2-for-7 inside the 20 and failing to get the Rams in the end zone in three trips.