After a disastrous trip to Australia, only to lose to the division rival San Francisco 49ers in convincing fashion, the Los Angeles Rams had a chance to bounce back with a vengeance on Monday Night Football against Jaxson Dart and the visiting New York Giants at SoFi Stadium.
The start of the 2026 NFL season couldn’t have gone worse for the Rams, as they made the ill-advised decision to travel overseas at the last minute, didn’t have Aaron Donald ready to make his debut, and then lost Myles Garrett to knee surgery.
However, Monday night had a very different outcome, with reigning NFL MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford returning to form as one of the best gunslingers in the game.
Matthew Stafford Passes Multiple NFL Legends in Career Milestones
During Monday’s dominant 22-point win over the banged-up Giants, Stafford was about as locked in as can be, throwing for 327 yards and four touchdowns to propel his team to its first victory of the season.
Along with putting on a vintage performance, Stafford officially passed Philip Rivers on the all-time touchdown passes list. He now sits at No.6 with 426 touchdown passes, with Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre in his crosshairs at No. 5 with 508.
As if that career milestone wasn’t impressive enough for the one-time Super Bowl champion, Stafford also passed a couple of legendary quarterbacks on a few prestigious all-time lists.
The next in line was Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger, whom Stafford passed on the list of the most 300-yard passing games. Roethlisberger had 68, and now Stafford has 69, which is the seventh-most in league history.
The Rams’ superstar quarterback didn’t stop there, as his fourth touchdown pass of the night to tight end Terrance Ferguson puts him in the same category as Miami Dolphins icon Dan Marino.
Stafford (22) passed Marino (21) for the sixth-most games in NFL history with four or more touchdown passes.
Needless to say, Stafford had himself a night in a game that the Rams desperately needed to get back on track after a season-opening disaster down under.
Davante Adams Passes Issac Bruce on All-Time Receptions List
One of the main reasons for Stafford’s big night was the play of star veteran wide receiver Davante Adams, who stepped up in a big way with Puka Nacua on the mend and ruled out for this game against the Giants.
Adams caught a game-high eight passes for 195 yards and two receiving touchdowns in the win over New York. It was just 11 receiving yards shy of his career-high total when he caught 11 passes for 206 yards with the Packers back in 2021 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As a result of Adams’ eight catches, the future Hall of Famer officially passed a Rams legend on the all-time career receptions list, passing Issac Bruce (1,024) at No. 15.
Only two other active NFL players sit ahead of Adams on this list, with Indianapolis Colts‘ Keenan Allen tied with Andre Johnson at No. 12 (1,062) and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 8 (1,092).
Rams’ Matthew Stafford Makes NFL History in Blowout Win Over Giants