Matt Stafford is 37 years old and supposedly in the twilight of a first ballot Hall of Fame career, but his performance this season suggests the Los Angeles Rams quarterback is aging like a fine wine and getting even more efficient.
Matthew Stafford’s Torrid Four-Game Stretch Lifts Him To Top Of NFL MVP Race
Stafford has 25 TDs and just two interceptions this season while leading the Rams to a 7-2 record. In his last four games he has 20 TDs and 0 picks, an historically prolific stretch that has thrust him to the front of the MVP race over much younger quarterbacks such as Drake Maye and Daniel Jones, who were receiving top billing before Stafford went Dan Marino and the Rams established themselves as bonafide Super Bowl contenders.
NFL fans, not on the Jonathan Taylor bandwagon are singing Stafford’s praises.
“He’s playing very good ball it’s a chase between him and Jonathan Taylor for MVP,” said one fan.
“Stafford isn’t just in the MVP conversation, he is frontrunner right now,” insisted another.
“Doing this at almost 40 proves brain over braun,” one fan on Facebook said while celebrating Stafford’s achievements at his advanced age.
What About Drake Maye?
New England Patriots second-year QB Maye is another newcomer who has won some games against lesser competition and is being thrust into the elite realm by overzealous fans, who say Stafford has more weapons.
“Drake Maye has a lot less than him,” one fan reasoned.
“Yes he puts up good stats against poor competition, let’s give him the MVP,” one netizen sarcastically quipped.
What leans the argument in Stafford’s favor is the fact that entering the season, the New England Patriots had the easiest schedule, while the Los Angeles Rams had the toughest.
Matthew Stafford’s Stint With Rams Is Sweeter Than The First 12 Seasons With Detroit Lions
Stafford wasted his peak years with a losing Detroit Lions organization from 2009 to 2020. Stafford had a breakout year in 2011 when he threw for 5,000 yards while also leading Detroit to their first playoff appearance since 1999. He led the Lions to two more runs in 2014 and 2016. Stafford was traded to the Rams in 2021 and wasted no time leading them to a ring in Super Bowl LVI. He’s currently top 10 in all-time passing yards in NFL history with over 62,000 and the fastest player in NFL history to have reached 40,000 career passing yards.
The Game Is Getting Easier As Matt Stafford Gets Older
Toiling in Detroit originally left Stafford with a reputation that he couldn’t win the big one, but the problem wasn’t the former Georgia star’s fault. It was organizational. He immediately changed that narrative by winning in LA. But after playing just nine games in 2022 and failing to surpass the 4,000-yard passing mark in each of the last two seasons, questions about Stafford’s age started to bubble. Then he got healthy and this season happened.
RELATED: Matthew Stafford Went From Super Bowl Champion To Concussion Protocols | Is Football Failing Him?
Not that he still has all of the physical attributes he held during his gunslinger days with the Lions when he threw double-digit picks in each of his 10 full season with the Detroit Lions, but Stafford has an offensive system geared to his strengths and the years of experience, success and failure to see everything that the defense is doing before it develops.
Dual Threat Quarterbacks Without Precision Passing, Clutch Time Experience Won’t Win Super Bowl
No matter how talented these young NFL quarterbacks are – even if they come out of the gate looking dominant like Jayden Daniels or C.J. Stroud – the NFL is full of football geniuses battling with each other at every position on and off the field. You’ve never conquered the game because coaches are always adjusting, studying your strengths and weaknesses and tendencies as a quarterback.
Being able to recognize elite schemes and confuse all-pro players without being exceptionally athletic is something that develops over time if you have the pocket presence, patience and ability to deliver precision passes into tight windows at crucial moments, while limiting the mistakes that young, hungry players who haven’t hoisted a championship trophy often make at the worst times.
Stafford has already experienced the highs and lows and ultimate satisfaction that Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Drake Maye, Jordan Love, Caleb Williams – and the list goes on – is striving for. Give Jalen Hurts credit for cracking the code. How much credit he deserves is a constant source of debate.
Mathew Stafford Shows That Pocket Passers With Experience Still Run Things In The NFL
No matter how many new school, dual-threat quarterbacks get drafted No. 1 overall or are proclaimed to be the next Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Josh Allen or LJ8, the pocket passer who delivers the ball with precision, intelligence and a deep understanding of the game and its nuances will remain king.
The recent obsession involves throwing a ton of money at a rookie and expecting him to elevate a struggling franchise without any idea of how tough the NFL truly is. Experience at the position has been overlooked for athleticism, flashes of extraordinary talent and regular season awards that suggest there is a new day in the NFL.
The recently retired Tom Brady proved otherwise. He admits that the game got easier as he got older even though his age had shortcomings athletically, winning his last of seven Super Bowls at age 43.5. The ease with which Joe Flacco can dissect a defense at age 40 is proof that his experienced mind is his greatest weapon. As an active quarterback matures, he accumulates data in high stakes situations. Some click earlier than others and master the art of staying in the pocket vs. running, which leads to three Super Bowls in five seasons like Patrick Mahomes.
Very few quarterbacks can capture the full essence of the position without years of experience that also requires years of failure and character-building. Stafford had to switch teams in order to salvage his championship legacy. Now he’s looking to build on it having mastered the game to an almost ridiculous level at age 37. Experience at the quarterback position wins championships.
