Though inevitable, what seemed like just moments after the Los Angeles Rams claimed victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, talk erupted around the sports world all about Matthew Stafford. Questions and comments about his greatness, his legacy, and of course debating a future gold jacket are just among a few. There were plenty of takes all week and I want to take a peek at all of the angles before labeling Stafford as anything other than a Super Bowl champion!
As a Packers fan, I watched Stafford twice a year for what felt like an eternity and always marveled at his talents and his toughness. He reminded me of Brett Favre in ways as he would go out and compete with almost any injury that plagued him. I almost felt bad for him being with an organization that didn’t seem to ever put all of the pieces together around him. Almost.
There seemed to be a visible shift in the Rams’ energy with Matt Stafford’s arrival ever since he was traded in January of 2021. His presence seemed to invigorate the locker room and they were able to lure future HOF’ers like OBJ, Von Miller, and the great Eric Weddle who even came out of retirement to join the team!
Stafford threw for over 4,800 yards and 41 touchdowns in the regular season, which is spectacular, but there is a slightly darker side to that stat line: he also threw 17 picks. Stafford actually led the league in interceptions this season tied with Jacksonville Jaguars rookie Trevor Lawrence.
Quarterbacks like Jimmy G and Baker Mayfield catch a lot of flack for giving up the ball so often and it appears that people give Stafford a pass time and time again because of his above-stated facts. Forty-one touchdowns can make people forget about the mistakes for sure, but this league is far too competitive to make those types of errors week in and week out.
Remember how I said I used to watch him and nearly felt bad for having to play in Detroit for all of those years and the team just never seemed to be able to get it together? To play devil’s advocate with myself for a second, let’s not forget that there was a time (2011) that Stafford had Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Brandon Pettigrew, and Jahvid Best on offense. That same year the Lions had a stout defense in Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril, Kyle Vanden Bosch, and Stephen Tulloch to name a few. You may say, “Well, he clearly has a better lineup in Los Angeles as he was able to throw for 41 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl!” You may be right, but that same year, 2011, Stafford had a freakishly similar stat line in silver and blue with 41 TD’s and 16 INTs. So did we see the same Stafford who had help from a scary front five on defense?
Richard Sherman had some strong thoughts on Matt this week. He said the Hall of Fame bar is being set far too low and used Stafford as an example as people threw out “future Hall of Famer” around carelessly this week. He makes a hell of a point. Besides this Super Bowl ring, Matthew Stafford has not earned many accolades like a league MVP. He didn’t even earn the big game’s MVP honor as that went to his record-shattering receiver Cooper Kupp.
Lest we forget that the Jared Goff/Sean McVay duo was able to reach a Super Bowl just a few years back. If it weren’t for a dominant defensive performance, the game could have had a different outcome with Stafford gifting the Bengals the ball not once, but twice. The no-look pass to Kupp was certainly exciting to watch and does exhibit Stafford’s talents, but do we get consistent dominance and consistent ball protection? Not quite.
With all of that being said, what I think really does not matter. Stafford has just won his first Super Bowl days ago and is living in the moment with his teammates! They are celebrating and reeling in emotion with his team and family. Can’t we just let the man enjoy it? Why do we have to rate his legacy this instant? Time will surely tell us more as he continues his career in sunny California.
