The Los Angeles Rams playoff odds currently sit at 99 percent — leading the division with several layers of coincidence standing between them and missing the playoffs. While much digital ink has been spilled pointing out their winning streak, in the five straight wins they have won those games by an average of just 5.8 points per game.
The Rams’ offense is the worst among playoff teams when it comes to scoring and the third-worst by yards per game. Over the last several weeks, the Rams’ passing game has looked completely anemic. They have been the second-worst playoff team in EPA per passing play since Week 15.
At least some of the blame must fall on quarterback Matthew Stafford. According to Bleacher Report, Stafford stands between playoff success and an early trip to Cabo San Lucas.
Rams Need a Better Version of Matthew Stafford to Make a Playoff Run
“The Los Angeles Rams have yet to clinch a playoff berth, but Matthew Stafford must play much better if they advance to the postseason. Over the last three weeks, Stafford has thrown one touchdown pass and an interception, averaging 153 passing yards per game in that stretch.
Stafford didn’t give the ball away on Saturday, but he had multiple turnover-worthy plays, specifically in the red zone.
Coming off a Pro Bowl campaign, Stafford’s passing yards average and touchdown rate have dipped this season. He’s overly reliant on wideout Puka Nacua, and the rest of the Rams receivers have been nonfactors in recent outings.
Since Week 14, the Rams have averaged 14.7 points per game. Lately, their defense has fueled their winning streak, but they will need more from Stafford and the passing offense against tougher competition.”
Stafford has passed for fewer than 200 yards five times this season. He has averaged just 1.5 games with that few passing yards over the rest of his career. To the point BR made, Stafford is tied with Sam Darnold for 3rd in turnover-worth plays with 21. He has also attempted the fewest big-time throws of his Rams career, save for his injury-shortened 2022 season and the fewest since 2016.
Early in the season, this was these foibles were attributed to injury issues to the offensive line and to his top targets, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. Now with all of those pieces in place, attention has to be pointed toward Stafford.
Is this the beginning of a quarterback decline the NFL has seen countless times with players of Stafford’s age? Is it an anomaly, evidenced by his phenomenal performance against the Buffalo Bills? Or are those performances the vestiges of a once-great quarterback?
The playoffs will be the test of whether Stafford can put all the right stuff together against top talent. Given his window, the Rams will have to string together several consistent offensive performances to put another Lombardi on Stafford’s shelf. That isn’t something they’ve been able to do this season.