Matthew Stafford's ugly Week 7 opens up questions about the LA Rams QB situation

He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 220-pounds. He is 35 years old, and he is the starting quarterback for the LA Rams. This, the 2023 NFL season, was supposed to be his renaissance year, a renewal of sorts as he returned to compete in the NFL in the best shape of his career since being traded to the LA Rams.

But here we are, just seven games and 18 quarterback sacks into the 2023 NFL season, wondering who is under center for the Rams. Or worse yet, what has happened to him? After all, the last time he struggled with completing passes this noticeably, he was competing in just his fourth NFL season. In that year, he would only rally the Detroit Lions to a 4-12 record.

Let's be clear. The LA Rams lost their fourth game as a team, a team that is still quite young. Young players in the NFL do not play consistently, and streakish wins and losses come with the learning curve of finding their way in the NFL.

But Matthew Stafford is not young. In fact, at 35 years old he is the oldest active starting quarterback in the NFL today. And that could be a problem.

Stafford shows signs of slowing down

Yes, Matthew Stafford has been sacked 18 times in seven games. But he has been sacked 462 times over his career of 198 games, which is an average of 2.33 sacks per game. That works out to 16.3 quarterback sacks over seven games, so he is well within his 'norms' in terms of quarterback pressure.

What is not normal is a winnable game on the line, and QB Matthew Stafford suddenly going ice cold from the pocket. How cold? He missed his last seven pass attempts:

I was worried that I was seeing things that weren't there, that my coverage of Matthew Stafford dealing with a hip injury and pain management manifested in such a way that I was seeing things that were not there. But even as I tried not to see it, I saw it.

And I was not the only one to observe that hitch in his gate.

Historically, veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford is good for multiple fourth-quarter comebacks over the course of an NFL season. He led the LA Rams to three such fourth-quarter comebacks in 2021. In 2016, he led the Detroit Lions to eight (yes, that's right, eight) fourth quarter comebacks.

So far in 2023, Stafford has no such comebacks. Nada. Zilch. None.

In 2021, Stafford threw 41 touchdowns and just 17 interceptions. Combining both 2022 and games played in 2023 so far, Stafford has thrown for 17 touchdowns and 14 interception. Change is difficult. Change can even be scary sometimes. But every quarterback not named Tom Brady hits a wall as some point in their NFL career, and 35-year-old Matthew Stafford is showing signs of aging this season.

Is this a matter of pain from his hip injury? Or is it something far more sinister, the cold roots of Father Time taking hold of the LA Rams starting quarterback? Whatever the cause, I don't like the effect. And complicating matters even worse, the LA Rams backup QB Stetson Bennett remains on NFI/IR.

Right now, the Rams have growing concerns over their quarterback position. And that is not something that I believe this young Rams team can overcome easily.