Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is facing some scrutiny following his team’s loss to the Denver Broncos on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 3.
In a postgame clip, Stafford is seen walking into the tunnel, spitting as he heads to the locker room area. The clip, posted by NFL on Prime’s James Palmer, did not mention Stafford spitting following the Rams’ loss.
It still may have done so a bit too well.
“Stafford leaves the field after a wild one in Denver,” Palmer captioned the video, posted on X on September 27.
“Did he just spit at someone ?” one fan posted in the comments, where some fans resorted to flat-out name-calling in reaction to the gesture.
Another asked, “Who is he spitting at? Lol.”
A third fan tagged “Nightcap,” the handle for the podcast hosted by Broncos legend and NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, to alert them of the Rams quartereback’s actions as he left the playing area.
“Are you effing kidding me?!!!!” yet another fan posted, adding, “I’m not gonna curse out of respect to James Palmer and his journalism but spitting to the back wall is a POS move!!!! He knows WTF he’s doing!!!… you’re better than that Matt… take your sore loser ass back to the city of wanna bes.”
To that, one fan posted a picture of a past event during which Stafford and his wife, Kelly Stafford, came under fire for their reaction to a photographer falling an injuring themselves.
Kelly Stafford also caught a stray, with the “Nightcap” fan calling her “annoying.”
“Don’t spit in our tunnel, Matthew,” the Denver Gazette’s Mike Sanford posted.
9News’ Mike Klis posted, “Was that the 5280 sign Stafford spit on?”
Others chose to poke fun at Stafford, who threw 2 interceptions on the night, including giving the Broncos the lead with a pick-6 to former San Francisco 49ers star Talanoa Hufanga.
“Matthew Stafford spits after losing to the Broncos… AND ITS picked off by Hufanga!” Fox 61’s Brendan Mackey posted on X, quoting Palmer’s video and saying, “Seriously though… this is weird. #BroncosCountry.”
The reactions did not get much nicer for Stafford and the Rams following the difficult defeat.
Matthew Stafford Gets Honest After Loss to Broncos
Stafford spoke candidly after the contest. He owned up to his mistakes in the contest after lauding the Rams’ competing to the end in the contest.
“Obviously, don’t want to have a pick-6. I’m hot there, trying to pick one of my two hots. Hufanga makes a good play. I can’t get him on the ground and adds points to him there,” Stafford told reporters after the game, noting that he bounced back with a touchdown. “Proud of our toughness there and being able to go and get that done. But don’t want to have those things happen. Just got to clean some things up.
“We got into scoring range quite a few times today. Not as much as we would want in the second half, but especially in the first half, and came away with field goals for whatever [reason]. Negative plays, missed throws by me, penaltie. Whatever it was, just got to clean those things up. Got to play more efficient. if we do that. I like where we’ll be at.”
Unfortunately, the Broncos came back with a TD score of their own, retaking the lead for good.
Stafford and the Rams will get no reprieves, with a matchup at home against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4. The Eagles have defeated Stafford and the Rams in four straight meetings, including the 2024 NFC Divisional Playoffs.
Matthew Stafford Under Fire Over ‘POS Move’ After Rams Loss