Matthew Stafford is most intriguing in LA Rams training camp
By Jay Blucher
Place your bets
Was it truly his moribund supporting cast in Detroit for all those years that held him back? Was he just an unlucky strong-armed QB saddled with bad teams and bad front offices? Will he blossom when surrounded by a much better supporting cast? Or was there something more, a guy who could sing-in-the-shower so to speak with his crazy side-armed throws and his game-winning drives, but when it mattered most, on the big stage for the big games, he simply croaked like a frog?
If we re-pot this plant in some better soil and give it some fertilizer and sunshine, will it bloom now?
In the business world, if you “quarterback” a project then that means you bring a bunch of different elements into a harmonious or efficient relationship.
News flash: Same expectation exists in the 70,2450 seats at $5.5 billion So-Fi Stadium.
You know, that gigantic oval-shaped 4K HDR double-sided video board that is suspended from the roof over the field? They call it “The Oculus”. That 2.2 million-pound monstrosity of an 80-million-pixel display is approximately the same prism or microscope which Rams fans (and all football fans) will be scrutinizing his play this year.
Think Eye of Mordor. It is always seeing what happens on the field.
The expectations of Stafford are sky-high, off the charts. Perhaps even ridiculously unrealistically optimistic. He must not only deliver what the Rams haven’t done but do something he has never done. Not just once. Not just twice. Perhaps not even three times. He must turn an 0-3 shutout in postseason play into a 4-3 record.
And to kick those expectations up a notch, SoFi Stadium will host Super Bowl LVI this season.
But that’s the thing about expectations. It’s good to meet them. . . but even better to exceed them.