Perhaps the only person more excited about Matthew Stafford’s Rams debut than the quarterback himself was Sean McVay. The head coach couldn’t wait to take his new sports car out of the garage in the season opener after working with Stafford all offseason, developing plays and a game plan to help the Rams succeed on offense.
And as high as McVay’s expectations were, Stafford likely exceeded them in every facet with a historically great performance against the Bears on Sunday night. He threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns, with a passer rating of 156.1 – the highest ever by a player in his debut with a new team.
After the game, McVay discussed his quarterback’s outstanding night, having trouble picking one thing that stood out to him from Stafford’s display of talent.
“I think it was just his steady demeanor throughout the course of the game,” McVay said. “Just like you had seen in practice and seen from afar, but I think their first drive of the second half I thought was most impressive. But then I’m thinking about what an unbelievable job he did progressing, finding Robert Woods on the last touchdown, so there were multiple things but I think the overall game management and I think the expectation. You could just see there was a look in his eye. He had confidence in his teammates. He expected to play well and he did a great job. It’s hard to say there was one thing. I loved everything he did tonight.”
Stafford got off to a hot start with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson on the third play of the game, showing off his arm strength and accuracy to drop the ball perfectly in his receiver’s arms.
This Stafford guy can SLING IT 🎯
His first touchdown as a Ram to @VanJefferson12! pic.twitter.com/t1938rUAJ0
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 13, 2021
That play was an example of the way the Rams can open the playbook with Stafford under center, allowing him to take shots downfield when the opportunity is right.
“I think it was a great job by him being able to flip his hips and make an unbelievable throw,” McVay said. “I think that’s kind of one of those things – he’s gifted. He’s got a great ability to be able to change his arm slot and make all types of throws, whether it be short, intermediate or down the field. You’re not limited in anything you can do in the pass game. Hopefully we’ll continue to build on options and opportunities that we have moving forward.”
Obviously, Stafford will have a hard time playing like this every week, but the Rams have to be overjoyed with the way their new quarterback played against a solid Bears defense in his first game in Los Angeles.
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