Matthew Stafford Becomes His Own Worst Critic After Stellar Rams Debut

Matthew Stafford has spent this week getting showered with praise following his Los Angeles Rams debut, from being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, September 15 to several Detroit Lion fans applauding him online for rejuvenating himself.

But even the new QB1 has to pump the brakes and observe everything in driving the Ram offense.

And in this case, the new conductor of the vehicle told the L.A. media on Wednesday evening that not everything went perfect for him in the 34-14 romp of the Chicago Bears.

“Kind of hard to articulate it. There were just some plays in the game that I wish I was a little bit better on,” Stafford said. “Wish I was a little bit more calmer in the pocket on a few where I could’ve just kept progressing and getting to get into a different guy and just finding the completion. I think there were a couple that didn’t get completed that I think I could have and obviously continue to just try and hit the open guys when they’re open.”

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Stafford Only had 6 Incompletions

Stafford’s final numbers have the look of perfection. And, per Pro Football Focus, 13 of Stafford’s throws turned into first downs.

Stafford came out firing right out the gate, with his second passing attempt going like this to Van Jefferson:

While Stafford only had six incomplete throws, it was during a certain down he threw some of the non-completions that gets him wanting to improve.

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3rd Down Woes on Rams’ Side

Following the 67-yard strike to Jefferson, the Rams went on to settle for field goals. Here’s why:

• On the second Rams drive, Stafford went deep to the left to Jefferson on 3rd and 5 but the pass fell incomplete, forcing the field goal unit out.
• On the next Rams drive, Stafford got L.A. to the Chicago 4-yard-line. However, Stafford’s end zone attempt to Robert Woods hit the grass, which was on a 3rd and goal.

While the Rams converted six 3rd down tries, the two failed attempts came with a short field to work with. Stafford’s head coach Sean McVay mentioned those crucial downs in his post practice presser from Wednesday night.

“I think overall I want to see us be better on the third downs,” McVay said to the L.A. media. “We had success in the first half, and we had minimal plays, but we also did have that three-and-out sequence. We were 0-for-4 on the third downs, some of which definitely could have been helped by better play calls by me. But I think the position is so difficult, snap in and snap out.”

McVay also shared how he likes the “room for improvement” approach his new QB is taking.

“There’s always going to be things that you can improve on, but it kind of depends on what phase of our offense are we talking about. There’s always room for improvement. It was definitely a good, clean start, but I think he’d be the first to tell you that, ‘Hey, did a lot of really good things, which was definitely represented in some of the success we had all offensively, but can do some things better, as well,’” McVay said.

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How Does the Colts Pass Defense Measure up?

It starts with how they fared on third downs against the Seattle Seahawks. The ‘Hawks went 4-of-9 against the Colts’ third down defense.

However, Russell Wilson gained one first down on a 3rd and 9 through a QB scramble. One Tyler Lockett touchdown pass (the 23-yarder) came on a 3rd and 6. Long story short, Indianapolis had its biggest third down breakdowns when Seattle had a longer trek to the first down.

And their pass defense is facing this dilemma on Sunday: Four defensive starters including Pro Bowl linebacker Darius Leonard and veteran cornerback Xavier Rhodes are listed as questionable for the Rams game.

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