With a gunslinger like Matthew Stafford, fans have to take the bad with the good

The Los Angeles Rams renegotiated the contract to stay in the Matthew Stafford quarterback business through the 2025 NFL season. As Rams GM Les Snead termed it at the time, the team and Stafford renewed their vows. It's a perfectly suited description and analogy over what the team and player did in the offseason, as it also infers the phrase that is most appropriate for this article. The Rams and Stafford are staying together.

But it's time to reset expectations.

The Rams offense is designed for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. With the team having to navigate a significant number of injuries every season since winning Super Bowl LVI, it's easy to ignore just how good Stafford can be when healthy and protected. But Stafford has not had luck on his side of late. In 2022, he suffered a bruised spinal cord and was shut down. In 2023, the thumb on his throwing hand was injured, and he narrowly missed a disastrous need to reconstruct his thumb. And in 2024, he suffered a painful rib injury that hampered his range of motion over multiple games.

So while the Rams offense has faltered in recent years, the truth is that the team has had serious matters impacting the helmsman of the offensive ship. Just imagine what this offense could do with a fully healthy quarterback over an entire season.

Stafford is still elite enough to lead the Rams back to Lombardi Land. Even without a stable offensive line and continuity at the wide receiver positions, he continues to find ways to win. While the team does not always generate style points, Stafford's record with the Rams is 34 wins to 23 losses, while his postseason record with the Rams is 5-2.

While records may not be quarterback statistics, it does measure the effectiveness of the team's leadership, and the quarterback is the offensive leader on all 32 NFL teams. So the team will naturally be pinned to the quarterback. Does that mean good things for the Rams this season?

The word is already out. The Rams offense appears to be powered for the 2025 NFL season. But should Rams fans be concerned over the durability and performance potential for one of the oldest quarterbacks in the NFL? I don't see Stafford hitting the wall this year. Here's why:

For Better ...

Matthew Stafford has suited up and played 57 games for the Los Angeles Rams in four seasons. Over those four seasons, he has completed 1,276 of 1,942 passes (for a 65.7 completion rate) for 14,700 passing yards, 95 touchdowns, and just 44 interceptions. He has thrown a football for an 80-yard completion, has a quarterback rating of 95.2 in the pocket, and has been sacked 117 times.

While not a mobile quarterback, he has run 96 times for 156 yards and one touchdown. He has also fumbled 16 times. He has been a Pro Bowler in 2023, and he has led the Rams to their lone Super Bowl victory for the city of Los Angeles, California.

In just four seasons with the Rams, Stafford has already skyrocketed to find his place as the sixth-ranked All-Time Rams Career Passing Leaders. And with 4000 passing yards in 2025, he will ascend to fourth-place on the Rams passing leaders list, surpassing that of Norm Van Brocklin and Jared Goff.

Stafford may be getting up in years, but as long as the Rams can keep him upright and safe in the pocket, he gives this team a solid chance of winning, even against the most successful teams in the NFL. And he still has that edge of competitive passion. How good is he? Well, he has mastery over play-action passing, a bread-and-butter play in the Rams' offensive playbook.

The Rams offensive line may have been battered in 2024, but the unit surrendered just 31 quarterback sacks for the entire season. That clocks in as sixth-best in the NFL, and is particularly impressive knowing that Stafford is not mobile, and seldom chooses to just chuck the ball away to avoid a sack.

...and For Worse

Of course, there is no need to get homerish about the limits of Matthew Stafford. He does not walk on water. He has been limited in each of the past three seasons due to untimely injuries. Perhaps worst of all, at 37 years old, the day when his throwing days are behind him is a growing possibility. The Rams have shown the awareness of Stafford's growing limitations by investing heavily in offensive weapons.

The team signed elite WR Davante Adams in 2025, and added durable TE Colby Parkinson to a multi-year deal in 2024. The team drafted a very talented TE Terrance Ferguson, WR Konata Mumpfield, and RB Jarquez Hunter in 2025, and drafted a very talented RB Blake Corum and WR Jordan Whittington in 2024. On paper, the team has attempted to add offensive weapons to ensure that the team is not depending entirely upon Stafford to play the hero.

The thing is, the very attributes that the Rams had fallen in love with can also translate into bad outcomes. While the defense gets dinged for points scored against the team, the Rams defense gets dinged often by touchdowns scored against them without a single defender stepping onto the football field. For one example, consider the fact that Matthew Stafford leads all active NFL quarterbacks with career pick-sixes. And when I say leads, I mean by a country mile:

This isn't new news. Matthew Stafford has thrown 3+ pick-sixes seven times in his NFL career. He has thrown multiple pick-sixes nine times in his career. And he has thrown at least one pick-six in 12 of his 16 NFL seasons. Keep in mind that he has played 10 or fewer games in an NFL season just four times, and he has played 16 NFL seasons. So the chances of Stafford tossing at last one pick-six in 2025 are overwhelmingly likely. That's what you get with a gunslinger quarterback.

And like it or not, that is the type of quarterback HC Sean McVay wants under center.

He digs a hole, then digs the team out of it

If you love dramatic finishes, then veteran QB Matthew Stafford is your guy. He is tied for fourth overall and is the leader among active NFL quarterbacks at fourth-quarter comebacks with 38. He managed to add three to his fourth-quarter comeback totals last season. If he maintains that modest pace, he will need just three more NFL seasons to top the list, currently held by QB Tom Brady, with 46 fourth-quarter comebacks.

To say it another way, Matthew Stafford digs a hole, then digs the team out of it.

Stafford is currently tied with retired Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan with 38 4QCs. If he matches his 2024 number of comebacks, he will tie Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger with 41 4QCs. Only Tom Brady (46 4QCs) and Peyton Manning (43 4QCs) have more. And Stafford could top them all with a string of several more NFL seasons.

So many make the argument that an NFL team's win-loss record is not a quarterback stat. But if that is the case, then fourth-quarter comeback victories are not quarterback stats either. Even game-winning drives are more about the fortitude of an offensive line than the skill of an elite quarterback. But it's undeniable that if the game is on the line, almost all NFL fans who are more than casual followers would want Matthew Stafford leading the offense. And for fans who oppose him as time winds down, no quarterback is more feared as time runs out.

Stafford lives for the spotlight and high-pressure stakes. No, not because he loves to be praised. Nor does he seek out attention. He simply loves to rediscover the best version of himself by showing up in the most competitively adverse conditions. And with the Rams' offensive scheme set up by HC Sean McVay, he will always have the coach's trust and best plays backing him up.

In the run to winning Super Bowl LVI, Stafford engineered three game-winning drives and two fourth-quarter comebacks. In those moments, he proved to be the missing link, the guy who this team desperately needed to carry the team to the Winner's Circle. Like it or not, with a gunslinger like Matthew Stafford, fans have to take the bad with the good. While the bad can be frustrating, the good often leads to euphoria.

The Rams and Stafford renewed their vows in 2025. Now, you know why.

As always, thanks so much for reading.

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