Playing on the road is never easy, particularly for a quarterback who has to hear play calls from his coach and relay them to his teammates in the huddle. Playing in a hostile environment like the one the Rams will experience again on Sunday night in Detroit is even more challenging.
Matthew Stafford felt the full brunt of the crowd in Detroit during the Rams’ playoff loss to the Lions in January and he’s ready to feel that again on Sunday. He’s not someone who will put on noise-canceling headphones during warmups, either.
He welcomes the boos and heckling from those who supported him for 12 years in Detroit.
“Yeah, I feel the crowd, one hundred percent,” he said Wednesday. “[It’s a] motivating factor. [I] love it. I’m one of the guys that walks into the opposing stadium, everybody has their headphones on. I don’t. I want to hear all of it. I want to smell it. I want to feel like it’s football and that’s part of football, especially going to an away game. That stuff just motivates me.”
There’s no doubt the crowd is going to be a factor in Sunday’s game, particularly when the Rams are on offense. The noise can be deafening, with several Rams players saying January’s playoff game at Ford Field was the loudest environment they’ve ever played in.
It’s impossible for the Rams to replicate the crowd noise in practice, but they’re preparing for it to be a raucous environment this weekend, particularly with it being the first game of the season.
They handled it well last time around, committing no pre-snap penalties on offense. Not even a single false start. If they can do that again on Sunday, the offense will be in good shape.