LAS VEGAS — The Rams didn't have to rely on quarterback Matthew Stafford Matthew Stafford to do everything on Sunday afternoon to come away with a win against the Raiders. Stafford had an electrifying first half and reached multiple career milestones, but the Rams offense was a far more balanced attack than in previous weeks.
That balance allowed the Rams offense to build a rhythm and not need Stafford to step up in a high-pressure moment with his team behind, just like the each of the last four weeks. He had 195 passing yards and three touchdowns on Sunday against Las Vegas, all three touchdowns coming in the first half.
As a result of his performance, Stafford left Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with a win — but he also became the Rams' franchise leader in touchdown passes and second in franchise history in completions.
"It just means you're old and you play a lot of ball," Stafford said postgame of the franchise passing touchdown accomplishment. "Just super appreciative of all the guys that helped me do that. Catching touchdowns and throwing touchdowns isn't a one-man job. Takes a lot of people to block and get open, and coaches to draw plays."
Although Sunday's game was just the second game all season that Stafford didn't end with more than 200 passing yards, he was efficient and effective when he needed to be as the offense relied on a balance between him and their run game.
Both running back Kyren Williams and Blake Corum had over 90 yards rushing and over 5.5-yard per carry. That effectiveness on the ground opened things up for Stafford to operate on more comfortable down and distances.
"Even the dirty ones that don't look great, but we push the pile, and now it's second-and-5, that's our whole playbook at our disposal there," Stafford said. "It helps us play in front of the chains, which is great."
The passing game itself also found a balance between getting all different types of players involved. Stafford connected with a mixture of wide receivers, tight ends and running backs in the pass game — nine completions for 83 yards to wide receivers, 11 completions for 82 yards to tight ends and three completions for 30 yards to running backs.
"I thought Matthew and the offense did a great job of executing on some different things, whether it was the change of the launch point, even just on some of the play actions, taking checkdowns," head coach Sean McVay said. "And I thought the backs and the tight ends did a great job of getting vertical to move the chains."
Heading into halftime with a 28-6 lead, the Rams came out of the half and didn't score any points in the third quarter. Stafford also threw an interception to start the fourth quarter to set up Las Vegas on a short field.
The Raiders narrowed the game to 28-18 as a result of two turnovers, but then Stafford led a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took over six minutes off the clock to essentially put the game away with 6:34 to go. Once again, Stafford stepped up when the Rams needed him, even if it wasn't on a drive where he needed to surmount of deficit like previous weeks.
When all was said and done, Stafford achieved multiple milestones and walked away with a much needed victory to build confidence moving into the middle of the season.
And when Stafford looks back at the performance overall, it may not necessarily be about his accomplishments, but about how he was able to benefit from the group playing collectively and efficient football.
"We were ultra efficient today," Stafford said.
