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Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Aaron Donald has had plenty of time watching Matthew Stafford up close, but the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle still sees the quarterback make throws that surprise him.
While Stafford has been making impressive throws into tight spaces all season, statistically, he had a slow start to the season. But in the Rams’ past three games, Stafford has thrown 10 touchdowns, tied for the second most in a three-game span in his career.
“He’s just looking like Matthew Stafford,” Donald said. “I think he’s playing good football right now, playing confident. He’s looking like he’s having a lot of fun out there. And it shows. Making some amazing throws, some things that it still shocks me to see. So I’m just glad he’s on our side, on our team and obviously I’m comfortable. … Anytime we got that guy out there, we always got a chance to win.”
Stafford enters Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders with three straight games of three or more passing touchdowns. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that’s tied for the longest streak of his career and is one game shy of the longest such streak by a Rams quarterback since the merger.
“He’s playing at a really high level right now [with] his understanding of the offense, his mastery and ownership of what we’re trying to get done [and] how we’re trying to attack defenses,” wide receiver Cooper Kupp said.
Through Week 8, the week Stafford sprained the UCL in his right thumb and the Rams fell to 3-5, Stafford had a Total QBR of 55.3 and had thrown eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the four weeks since his return from his thumb injury, Stafford has a QBR of 70.3 and has thrown 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Along with the thumb injury, Stafford also played through a hip contusion, an injury he suffered in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.
While Mike LaFleur said Stafford is “statistically, performing better than he was pre-bye,” the offensive coordinator also pointed out that there is no coincidence that the rest of the offense is playing better as well.
“The consistency level of all 11 guys that have been out on the field [has improved],” LaFleur said. “By no means has it been perfect … since the bye. We’ve had our ups, we’ve had our downs. That’s football. For the most part it’s been more consistent. When the guy next to you is playing better, usually you play a little bit better.
“As a collective unit, practices have been better than they were. Our energy has been a little bit better for whatever reason. These guys have a lot of confidence and it has shown.”
In the first eight weeks of the season, Stafford was sacked 19 times. Since then, he has been sacked only three times. The Rams also got starting running back Kyren Williams back from injured reserve after the bye, adding a player coach Sean McVay said makes the offense “very different, in a positive way,” when he is playing.
“If I’m playing well, that means the guys in front of me are blocking,” Stafford said. “The guys on the outside are getting open and catching it. We’re running the ball efficiently. It’s an unbelievable team sport. It takes everybody to do all of it. I’m just trying to make sure that when everything is right around me and my number is called to go out there and do my job as best I possibly can, and knowing that the guys around me are all fighting to do the exact same thing, just working towards one mission and that’s trying to win the game.”
The improved play has come at an important time for the Rams, who won three straight after their Week 10 bye before their overtime loss Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens, the top seed in the AFC. With a victory this Sunday over the Commanders, the Rams could go from a 40% chance to make the playoffs to 49%, according to ESPN Analytics. That number would fall to 14% with a loss.
But while Stafford was clear he is not overlooking any NFL team, the Commanders are the 32nd-ranked defense in the NFL. His previous two games — and six touchdowns — came against the top two defenses, the Cleveland Browns and the Ravens. Still, Stafford said, he is aware that “anybody can beat anybody at any point in time” in the NFL.
“You don’t really control who you play, you just control how you play,” Stafford said. “And that’s the big thing for us is let’s go out there and play our best game of football that we’ve put on tape this year. That’s our goal every single week. This week will be no different for us.
“Each defense, each team creates unique challenges each week, and that’s something that as a coaching staff and as players, we try to go out there and solve and then go out there and execute on Sunday.”
