All Things Rams - Stafford Thread

[Futureshock]

JULY 12TH, 2021
RAMS WILL HAVE SUCCESSFUL 2021 SEASON IF...


BY: BENJAMIN SOLAK

[Newbomb Turk]

The Rams have been a trendy Super Bowl pick since trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford, but 49ers safety Jimmie Ward will believe it when he sees it.

Ward questioned whether Stafford is really an upgrade over Jared Goff, given the two quarterbacks’ playoff records.

“I like Stafford, but they still will have the same players that he’ll be throwing the ball to,” Ward told Grant Cohn of SI.com. “He’s the same quarterback who was on the Detroit Lions and they still didn’t go to the playoffs, and they had Megatron [Calvin Johnson]. What was the problem over there in Detroit? Are you going to blame the city? What was the problem? Was it the money? If they city didn’t have enough money to bring players over there, why even have an NFL team? That’s a big question mark.

“They went and traded Jared Goff, who went to the playoffs several times and went to the Super Bowl. Yeah, he lost. He went to the Super Bowl, though. I’ve yet to see that with Matt Stafford. And I’m saying, he’s still great. I believe he’s a top 10 quarterback, maybe top 5. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m just going off of what I see. And I see Jared Goff got those boys to the Super Bowl.”

It’s true that Stafford only reached the playoffs three times in 12 seasons in Detroit, and lost in the wild card round all three times. And it’s true that Goff got to the playoffs three times in five seasons with the Rams, including reaching the Super Bowl once.

That does not, however, mean Stafford isn’t an upgrade over Goff. And now perhaps Stafford will have a little extra motivation to prove that to Ward.

[Futureshock]

SHOTS OFF THE BOW!!!




49ers’ Jimmie Ward: Matt Stafford is the same QB who was in Detroit and didn’t make the playoffs

Posted by Michael David Smith on July 18, 2021, 5:41 AM EDT

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The Rams have been a trendy Super Bowl pick since trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford, but 49ers safety Jimmie Ward will believe it when he sees it.

Ward questioned whether Stafford is really an upgrade over Jared Goff, given the two quarterbacks’ playoff records.

“I like Stafford, but they still will have the same players that he’ll be throwing the ball to,” Ward told Grant Cohn of SI.com. “He’s the same quarterback who was on the Detroit Lions and they still didn’t go to the playoffs, and they had Megatron [Calvin Johnson]. What was the problem over there in Detroit? Are you going to blame the city? What was the problem? Was it the money? If they city didn’t have enough money to bring players over there, why even have an NFL team? That’s a big question mark.

“They went and traded Jared Goff, who went to the playoffs several times and went to the Super Bowl. Yeah, he lost. He went to the Super Bowl, though. I’ve yet to see that with Matt Stafford. And I’m saying, he’s still great. I believe he’s a top 10 quarterback, maybe top 5. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m just going off of what I see. And I see Jared Goff got those boys to the Super Bowl.”

It’s true that Stafford only reached the playoffs three times in 12 seasons in Detroit, and lost in the wild card round all three times. And it’s true that Goff got to the playoffs three times in five seasons with the Rams, including reaching the Super Bowl once.

That does not, however, mean Stafford isn’t an upgrade over Goff. And now perhaps Stafford will have a little extra motivation to prove that to Ward.
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A lot of comments and emotions on this.

[Futureshock]

bloodonhishands says:
July 18, 2021 at 11:46 am
I don’t understand Lions fans that are still hung up over a player who got richly compensated for below average results, then roundly rejected your franchise and city. Goff isn’t the answer, but Stafford sure as hell wasn’t. Move on, he’s just not that into you!
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Ouch

honolulublue9 says:
July 18, 2021 at 10:51 am
Bulletin board material in July, I love it.

#9 gonna light you up, Jimmie.

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MortimerInMiami says:
July 18, 2021 at 10:42 am
Goff > Stafford

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finchy74 says:
July 18, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Have to put myself in the same camp as Jimmie Ward. It seems as though football execs and a lot of sports writers are taking all of Stafford’s failures and laying them at the feet of “that’s Detroit Lions football for you”.

Let’s not forget that Stafford had a very good coach in Jim Caldwell for 4 seasons. It hasn’t all been buffoons like Matt Patricia. Let’s also not forget that Stafford has typically had extremely talented WR’s to throw to in most of his seasons as a Lion. Remember all the offensive coordinators the Lions have gone through? With each new OC, the offense would get a boost and this was finally going to be the guy that was able to utilize Stafford’s amazing ability.

Most of those OC’s lasted a year before being fired. Stafford is a coach killer. The same guy that would make a couple of highlight reel plays every Sunday is the same guy that frequently killed his team by throwing red zone interceptions or taking stupid sacks.

So color me skeptical. Now, the Rams are a very talented team and McVey is no dummy when it comes to running an offense. Perhaps they can put up the bumper lanes (for you bowling fans) for Stafford and create enough structure & rules within that offense to keep Stafford from getting himself into trouble. But I’ll believe it when I see it.
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goldrush36 says:
July 18, 2021 at 12:54 pm
As a Niners fan Jimmie personally has zero room to talk about underachieving. He literally only has a job due to his versatility to play nickel CB or safety. As a football fan his argument is valid. Even back to college you could argue Stafford may lack a killer instinct. It isn’t like his rosters have all been bad. He doesn’t appear to show up in crunch time from what I have seen. He has better arm talent than Goff. Can definitely read defenses better, but when all the marbles are on the table he still seems to make the exact same mistakes. If they pull it off the trade was worth it. If they don’t it will be 2 more years of squandering picks in which they could have been reloading cheaper and younger

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dejadoh says:
July 18, 2021 at 2:48 pm
Last time I checked 1 player ain’t a team. The QB doesn’t block, catch passes, play RB, rush the QB, make sacks, tackle, assist in tackles, defend the pass, make interceptions, punt, kick, coach or are involved with player management. Bad organizations don’t have stability.

2009-2013: HC Jim schwartz, OC Scott Linehan, GM Martin Mayhew;
2014 HC Jim Caldwell, OC Joe lombardi, GM Martin Mayhew;
2015 HC Jim Caldwell, OC Joe Lombardi & Jim Bob Cooter, GM Martin Mayhew & Sheldon White;
2016-2017 HC Jim Caldwell, OC Jim Bob Cooter, GM Bob Quinn;
2018 HC Matt Patricia, OC Jim Bob Cooter, GM Bob Quinn;
2019 HC Matt Patricia, OC Darrell Bevell, GM Bob Quinn;
2020 HC Matt Patricia & Darrell Bevell, OC Darrell Bevell, GM Bob Quinn.

I’d say Detroit resembles the City around them, not very stable or good leadership.


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savethebs says:
July 18, 2021 at 8:14 pm
The fact that Stafford has been even this successful in Detroit is a testament to how good he is. They’ve never had a good defense. And they always seem to hire the worst head coaches. How many has he played for? He’s definitely better than Goff. But I’m not sure I’d label them a SB contender.

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[chemiclord]

It's true in the sense that much like Goff, you can't blame ALL of Stafford's shortcomings on his situation. The big question, however, is... what shortcomings were they? How many times did the Lions actually underperform with Stafford behind center?

His three playoff performances were:

1) 2011 against New Orleans. No QB is winning that game for the Lions after the Saints drop 45.

2) 2014 against Dallas. No doubt, Stafford showed that in panic comeback mode, he reverts to gunslinger Stafford, with all the weaknesses therein.

3) 2016 against Seattle. I can accept the argument that the Lions needed to have done more offensively, but getting 30 on that defense in Seattle is a tall order that maybe two or three QBs in the NFL would have been able to rise to.

Beyond that, the "W's and L's are the only thing that matters" crowd really don't have a leg to stand on despite their continued bluster. For the last three years, Stafford has proven quite conclusively that this team without him was one of the worst teams in the league, going literally 0-fer when he wasn't on the field.

[Futureshock]

People are all over on this subject. About both franchises and both QBs. I can't wait to see how all of this turns out. I DO hope that Goff is better then advertised though.

[chemiclord]

I think the Rams will be better in the short term. I am loathe to say they'll win a championship, simply because luck plays a pretty significant factor in any championship run, but Stafford should put to bed the nonsense that you can't win a playoff game with him taking snaps. The Rams window is pretty damn narrow, though.

In that sense, the Lions "won" the trade regardless of how Goff turns out. They aren't winning anything the next two-three years regardless, and the extra assets you picked up can be vital to getting the franchise QB you need.

As for Goff, whether he turns out better than advertised is going to depend entirely why he played like an extremely expensive JUGS machine. Was he just that despondent about McVay's control and didn't want to cause trouble going off-script and having the full support of a franchise will allow him to flourish? Maybe. But I think the answer was McVay getting frustrated that Goff wasn't picking up command of the game fast enough for McVay's tastes coupled by McVay having absolutely no desire to help Goff figure it out. Basically, the worst traits of both men feeding off each other.

Goff's at that point where QBs either figure it out, or don't... and it's also a point where there's not much anyone outside of Goff can do about it. You can't make someone learn. You can't make them find the balance between taking risks and going off script when you need to and managing the game. In a vacuum, this is a perfectly fine "gamble." You're only on the hook for two years, if he doesn't sort himself out, you cut bait. But the connections between Goff and Holmes makes me wary... especially if Holmes isn't willing to accept that he made a mistake pushing for Goff in 2016.

[The King]

Cam Akers torn achilles. Things are off to a great start. There goes the running game.

[The King]

Just imagine if the Rams didn’t have so many mega contracts and trade all their picks. Maybe they could have depth.

We’re not even at camp yet and they already took a major hit. The house of cards is falling…

[The King]

I wonder how much their Vegas odds drop after this news. Our two #1’s just got a lot better.

[Cody_Russell]

Forgot we have this thread.

Akers' injury is the Mikel LeShoure injury. There are medical advances when compared to 10 years ago... It's still one of the worst injuries to suffer for a RB. Sucks for Akers. Hoping he has a nice enough comeback to get that 2nd contract.

Read that losing a RB isn't as brutal for the Rams system when compared to other teams. CJ Anderson filled in for Gurley a few years ago and was spectacular. 49ers or any Shanahan offense is an example of when any RB can have success.
It definitely hurts, but isn't as significant as losing a top player at several other positions.

[Fraquar]

I think the Rams will be better in the short term. I am loathe to say they'll win a championship, simply because luck plays a pretty significant factor in any championship run, but Stafford should put to bed the nonsense that you can't win a playoff game with him taking snaps. The Rams window is pretty damn narrow, though.........

Shoud've, would've's, could'ves, maybes, if's, ands & buts.....
The issue was never about Stafford winning a playoff game - it was winning one in a city that has won just 1 in over 60 years.
That nonsense will never be put to bed - and rest assured the LA fanbase isn't going to be satisfied watching Stafford's high water mark winning a Wild Card game. You don't pop the champagne cork for that in LA - you very well might in DET.
He's being brought in to do what they couldn't do with Goff - and that isn't even getting to the SB (he's been there done that) - it's winning it.

[The King]

Well, they are already down their electric starting RB in a play action offense. What could go wrong?

[Forsh]

That's a shame for them. Guess it's a lot of Henderson, which is ok if he holds up

[chemiclord]

Shoud've, would've's, could'ves, maybes, if's, ands & buts.....
The issue was never about Stafford winning a playoff game - it was winning one in a city that has won just 1 in over 60 years.
That nonsense will never be put to bed - and rest assured the LA fanbase isn't going to be satisfied watching Stafford's high water mark winning a Wild Card game. You don't pop the champagne cork for that in LA - you very well might in DET.
He's being brought in to do what they couldn't do with Goff - and that isn't even getting to the SB (he's been there done that) - it's winning it.

It is when you're choosing to blame Stafford over the Lions being a dumpster fire that NO QB would be able to have terribly much success with.