Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed his first 12 passes against the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football.
As soon as Los Angeles got the ball, Stafford led the offense on a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive where he completed all eight of his pass attempts for 89 yards, capped off by a one-yard touchdown to wide receiver Davante Adams.
It was yet another surgical drive for Stafford that led to the Rams' fifth opening-drive touchdown of the season and fourth in the last five games. He completed eight-straight pass attempts to find pay dirt. So, even with the ball on the one-yard line, they didn't dare take the ball out of Stafford's hands when he was in his "soul snatcher" mode.
"Today it was early (I felt like I was in the zone)," Stafford said. "Sometimes it takes a minute to get into it, but today felt good. I thought Sean did a hell of a job kind of dialing it up for us early on and we were able to go put the pedal to the metal."
Stafford completed 25 of 35 pass attempts for 273 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Rams to a 34-7 win over Tampa Bay. His near-perfect performance in the first half gave the Rams a 31-7 lead heading into the break, and L.A. rode that momentum to a prime time victory at SoFi Stadium in front of a raucous home crowd that made their appreciation of Stafford known early and often.
L.A.'s 31-point first half is tied for their second-highest score in a first half since head coach Sean McVay took over in 2017, according to nflverse data. Stafford's three touchdowns and 210 yards in those first 30 game minutes facilitated that dominant start and put the game out of reach, especially with a disruptive defense making interceptions and sacking the quarterback. By the end of the night, L.A. had advanced to 9-2 on the season and took sole possession of first place in the NFC.
According to Pro Football Focus, Stafford was pressured just five times on his 36 dropbacks (13.9%), which simply cannot be overlooked. Offensive lineman Steve Avila told theRams.com postgame that their preparation during the week prepared them to stifle a big, physical Tampa Bay front. Stafford's detailed knowledge of the protections and decisiveness with the football kept him clean and undisturbed for most of the game.
"We know who we have in Matthew Stafford," Avila said. "... You talk about a general, someone who knows where the ball's supposed to be, someone who knows where the routes are supposed to be, someone who knows where the protection is, you're gonna have success if you know all those things."
Stafford's current streak of 27-straight passing touchdowns without an interception is the longest by any player since play-by-play was first tracked in 1978.
"That's a decision every time the ball's in my hand," Stafford said. "I'm trying to do the best I can at putting the ball where it needs to go, not putting it in harm's way, but also not taking chances when we got opportunities, because we got great skill players out there and I gotta give them chances."
The performance wasn't flashy, featuring repeated deep bombs or no-look passes, but it was as efficient as they come. In fact, Stafford only attempted one pass over 20 yards downfield, and it resulted in a 24-yard touchdown to Adams, his second of the day.
On 1st-and-10 from the Bucs' 24, Stafford calmly dropped back to pass and watched out of the corner of his eye as Adams dusted the backup corner, Zyon McCollum, off the line of scrimmage. Stafford flicked his wrist and dropped the pass in the bucket to Adams, who caught it casually as he crossed the goal line and then ran up the tunnel behind the end zone. Postgame, he joked that he "made it to the 405" freeway, doing his best Bo Jackson impersonation.
"Poor kid," Adams said in reference to McCollum. "He just was the one in the way today and it wasn't anything personal, it's just the way it gotta go."
Adams said he wasn't the first read on that play, but their preparation during the week made him think there was a chance it could come his way. During a similar look in practice this week, Stafford didn't see Adams, even though he beat the corner off the line in that instance as well. When the veteran gunslinger looked back at the video board after the play and saw that Adams was open, that must have implanted in his mind.
"Felt like we had one-on-one over there and the safety wasn't really moving over there (or) cheating it, so I kind of just peaked his release... and it was a good one," Stafford said. "Was able to put it in a good spot and he did the rest."
That score gave the Rams a 21-0 lead in the second quarter as "MVP" chants rained down on the Rams' star quarterback. Although awards are never top of mind for Stafford, he acknowledged the praise from the L.A. faithful, saying, "That was cool. That was awesome. That was a great atmosphere out there today."
But that sentiment wasn't just coming from the fans, but also from Adams, who has contributed to multiple MVP campaigns during his 12-year career: "He's playing like the most valuable player in the league."
