Baker Mayfield echoed the Matthew Stafford reality Rams fans have lived for years

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to SoFi Stadium for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, it will have massive implications for the NFC playoff picture. Of course, that is far from the only storyline surrounding this primetime clash.

This will be Baker Mayfield's first time back at SoFi Stadium (to face the Rams, anyway) since his short stint in Los Angeles during the 2022 season. As fans remember, in the midst of a lost season with Matthew Stafford sidelined, Mayfield gave fans something to root for, and he revived his career.

Most Rams fans remember Mayfield's time with the team fondly, even if it resulted in a new contract with the Buccaneers, who have been a formidable foe in the NFC since his arrival. On Sunday, however, fans will be cheering hard against their former quarterback.

Baker Mayfield had highest praise for Matthew Stafford ahead of Rams-Bucs

But that didn't stop Mayfield from giving Stafford his flowers in a press conference earlier this week. While those around the NFL aren't quick to slot Stafford in among the greatest quarterbacks to play the game, Mayfield said what Rams fans have been shouting from the rooftops for years.

"He can do everything. He's always been able to make every throw. As long as he was in Detroit, he didn't get a whole lot of credit for how really good he was, and you're seeing that now," Mayfield said. "To me, he's always been a top-three or five quarterback in the league, and one of the best, if not the best, pure passer ever in the history of the NFL."

Sometimes, for Rams fans, one second-guesses themselves and wonders if they've fallen into an echo chamber of Stafford praise. Then, they hear another one of the league's premier quarterbacks corroborate their feelings, and it is liberating.

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Stafford was always elite, as Mayfield said, but he didn't get any credit for it until he came to Los Angeles and won a Lombardi Trophy. But he's helped two different wide receivers win the NFL's triple crown, and he's dominating again this year while spreading the ball around so that everyone eats.

Given that the two quarterbacks crossed paths for the final five games of the 2022 campaign, they got to work together a bit, even though Stafford was sidelined. Stafford spoke about his former teammate earlier this week as well.

"I was around. I was rehabbing some stuff at the time, but I was really impressed with the physical abilities there. That's why [Mayfield] got picked where he got picked. His ability to come in and play pretty darn well on a shortened timeline was really awesome. He gave us a spark that season," Stafford said. "He's a great human being."

"I've played some golf with him in the offseason. I really enjoyed being around him. You can tell why his teammates love being around him. He's just a great guy and obviously a heck of a football player. He's been through a lot and came out on the other side playing about as good as... anybody. I'm always pulling for him to have success, as I am most of the guys in the league. I just want those guys to go out there and play well, and he's done a nice job."

While friendly off the field, these two fierce competitors will be going at it before a national audience on Sunday evening. If Mayfield has an MVP-like performance, as he's had so many times this year, Rams fans might grow frustrated. But for the time being, Mayfield has made them feel heard.