By: George Lopez
When the Los Angeles Rams traded Jared Goff and draft picks for Matthew Stafford this off-season, Ram fans were excited about what Stafford would bring to the Rams offense. Stafford has not only lived up to expectations in his first season in Hollywood, but he has also exceeded them.
Through four weeks, Stafford has led the Rams to a 3-1 record while completing 68% of his passes for 1222 yards with 11 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions and a passer rating of 117.6. Stafford play has energized the Rams fan base with his strong arm and willingness to take shots downfield with passes to speedy wide receiver DeSean Jackson. The offense under Stafford has Ram fans thinking of the explosive offense McVay had in the Superbowl year of 2018.
The one question most Ram fans had was whether Stafford would be able to play in a big pressure game having only played in 3 playoff games in 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions and losing all 3 games. Stafford answered that question convincingly with his performance against the defending Superbowl champions Tampa Bay Bucs. In by far the biggest regular-season game of his career, Stafford completed 27-38 passes for 343 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Rams 34-24 victory over the Bucs.
The excitement Stafford has brought to the Rams fan base was evident with the crowd during the game against Tampa Bay. In the past, a game of this magnitude would have seen about a 50-50 split in attendance between Bucs and Ram fans. The crowd for this game was overwhelmingly Ram fans and they made their voices heard.
Matt Stafford is taking Sean McVay’s offense to new heights. There is a buzz among Ram fans that has them thinking Superbowl. In Hollywood, where appearance, image, and ratings are everything, Matt Stafford has the Rams offense performing at a level that fits with the glitz and glamour that is Hollywood.
Stats from www.pro-football-reference.com
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