The Los Angeles Rams are gearing up to face the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs after finishing with a 12-5 record in the regular season. With the Rams advancing to the postseason, this will be just the fourth playoff game that Matthew Stafford has been a part of in his 13 years in the NFL (first since 2017).
Even with Stafford not having much experience in the postseason, Sean McVay isn’t worried about the veteran quarterback’s ability to lead the Rams to a victory on Monday.
“No. He’s played in playoff games. We’ll talk about what we think it’s going to take to go win the football game, but I really thought he was trying to will us to victory yesterday,” McVay said Monday. “I thought he made some incredible throws. I thought he was outstanding on third down. There was a lot of really big-time (plays). That drive to put us up 24-17, you just talk about the location, the toughness, the ability to stand in there and make some of those plays. So, we’ll go about it the same way, but I think it was his first division that he won yesterday as well. And he certainly was as instrumental as anybody in helping lead us to 12 wins. Yesterday was weird because it was two really good teams back and forth. That was a big-time battle. You give the Niners credit. It was disappointing, but we’re going to shift our focus and concentration and our energy in the right direction.”
Stafford spent 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions before being traded to the Rams prior to the 2021 campaign. During his tenure with the Lions, Stafford made the playoffs three times, but he has failed to win a single playoff game.
Stafford’s 0-3 record in the postseason should be taken with a grain of salt as he played on plenty of teams devoid of talent. When Stafford was able to lead the Lions to the playoffs, he did so as a wild-card team that was unable to win the NFC North.
So with the Seattle Seahawks beating the Arizona Cardinals — securing the NFC West for the Rams — it marked the first time that Stafford has won a division in his career.
McVay is correct in saying that Stafford has been instrumental in the team being able to earn 12 wins this season, throwing for 4,886 yards and 41 touchdowns. Even though Stafford hasn’t been part of many playoff teams or had success in the postseason, it shouldn’t be something that concerns fans ahead of Monday night’s contest versus the Cardinals.
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