What will LA Rams extension of Matthew Stafford mean over long haul?

We’d talked about how the LA Rams offense might change with the arrival of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford at this time one year ago. We dove into what he might bring to the LA Rams offense in our Consumer Report feature article. We cited the expert opinion of NFL Insider and analyst, Brian Baldinger, who believed that Stafford would shine in this offense.

But a year ago, nobody ‘knew’ what the result would be. Of course, there were educated guesses and plenty of SWAGs (scientific wild arsed guesses), but knowledge is based on historic facts, not future scenarios.

One year ago, the LA Rams acquired veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford with just two years remaining on his contract. That means that his contract was scheduled to expire after the 2022 NFL season.  After coming off a win in Super Bowl LVI in just his first season with the team, the LA Rams and Matthew Stafford had a lot of interest in signing a newer longer-term contract.

All of the unbridled enthusiasm and rosy-glow optimism proved to be accurate. Even such over-the-top projections about Stafford setting single-season passing records, which many scoffed at, proved to be true. So bringing Stafford only made complete sense.

But now, what should we make of all of this? Does this mean the Rams recast the same offensive game plan? Will the Rams be even more vibrant in 2022? Or will the Rams offense be ‘figured out’ once more, leaving the team scrambling for ways to counter-punch defenses?  Let’s talk about the way the LA Rams shifted their offensive emphasis in 2021 for starters…