LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford will finally play meaningful football

The LA Rams are back at it for the 2021 NFL season. If at first, you don’t succeed? Try. Try again. But how does that work out for a quarterback who for the most part has suited up year after year, already knowing that the chances to win more games than lost is a pretty lofty goal?

Unfortunately, many NFL players face that year after year. Perhaps it’s a deliberate decision to sign on with an NFL team to earn more money. But over time, the annual ritual of draft day optimism is quickly replaced with another season of challenges and futility.

The Detroit Lions former quarterback, Matthew Stafford, was one such player. In 12 seasons with the Lions, he led the team to just four winning records and just three playoff appearances. Once the Lions got to the playoffs? They were bounced out in round one.

For a competitor, that annual ritual of suiting up for little more than a paycheck wears on a man. It’s not that the competitive spirit fades away. it just goes to a different place. Goals that were once ‘winning it all’ settle into achievable goals. It’s not a compromise, it’s just the reality of the nature of competitiveness.

A game of inches

Sometimes, the difference between a winning season and a losing season is a stray field goal, a bad bounce of the football, one blown coverage. But if those same outcomes repeat over and over, the competitive edge dulls.

While many have asked questions about the LA Rams’ new quarterback Matthew Stafford, and rightfully so, one of the most important questions has yet to be asked. How will Stafford respond playing for a perennial contender? After all, isn’t that the bottom line of the 2021 season for the LA Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford? I don’t need to tell you when I can show you.

Stafford remains one of the most competitive quarterbacks in the NFL. Did you know that he is just the second quarterback to throw more than one game-winning touchdown with no time remaining on the clock?

So the guy is still chucking touchdowns for the Lions with no time left on the clock?  And now he will be playing for the Rams who have been stringing together winning seasons ever since hiring Sean McVay as the team’s head coach?

This one checks out. Even as the Rams offense put up over 400 more yards than the Lions offense in 2020, the Lions actually outscored the Rams last year. Now, Stafford will have his hands on the wheel and his foot on the accelerator of the LA Rams high octane offense. Will he be able to handle it?

Well, as some commentators have pointed out already, he may not as successful in leading the Rams to comeback victories. After all, he may not fall behind enough to give many opportunities to do so.