LA Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finds end zone better than anyone

The deeper side of the LA Rams’ passing attack

In the regular season, Stafford tossed a touchdown pass to eight different players. In the postseason, Stafford threw a touchdown pass to three different players. Combined, Stafford involved nine different receivers in the end zone.

Even that was not much different than Jared Goff from 2020, who involved eight different players in scoring throughout the 2020 NFL season. So there must be something far different. Well, Goff threw 7.2 yards per attempt in 2020, and 10.7 yards per completion that year. In the NFL Playoffs, that number stayed at 7.2 yards per attempt, but the yards per completion rose to 11.0 per completion.

Matthew Stafford stretched the field a bit better.  In fact, he hurled 8.1 yards per attempt in 2021, and 12.1 yards per completion in the regular season. That amplified to 8.5 yards per attempt in the NFL Playoffs and remained steady at 12.1 yards per completion in the postseason.  So that is part of the answer, isn’t it?  A quarterback who loved to throw the deep pass in an offense that mixed in the deep pass?

But this was, after all, Stafford’s first year in this offense. At this time one year ago, he was not working with his receivers. He was working with the coaching staff, getting a crash course in the mechanics of his new offense. While that may have seemed like a silly place to start, the investment proved to be incredibly wise.

Stafford began the season by throwing to Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, DeSean Jackson, Van Jefferson, and Tyler Higbee. By mid-season, he was throwing to Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Odell Beckham Jr., Ben Skowronek, and Tyler Higbee. In the second half of Super Bowl LVI, he was throwing to Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Ben Skowronek, and Brycen Hopkins. And the LA Rams won.