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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford isn’t shy when it comes to the team’s enormous expectations this season.
The reigning MVP is fresh off leading the Rams to the NFC Championship Game last season, and they’re expecting more. Stafford made it clear that work has to be done, but there’s no doubt the confidence is sky high.
“We can’t help but make each other better, [but] pieces of paper and names on a roster, those don’t win football games,” Stafford told reporters on Tuesday via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. “Teams and players and groups do. . . . Sean (McVay) said it the other night, we’ve got potentially a high ceiling, right?”
“We’ve got great players that have done a lot in this league,” Stafford added. “What can we do to continue to raise our floor, so if I’m off a little bit, we can still go find a way to win a football game?”
“If our defense is off a little bit, we can still find a way to go win a football game. Continuing to raise that floor is something that’s going to be a huge part of our journey this season,” he concluded.
There’s no doubt that Stafford can go win games this season, and that the offense will provide him plenty of support to do that. He completed 65% of his passes for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns versus eight interceptions last year.
Stafford has an elite pair of wideouts to work with in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams again, and Colby Parkinson is a solid receiving tight end. Running back Kyren Williams could easily take a load off of Stafford again if the former Notre Dame star rushes for 1,200 or more yards and 10 or more 10 touchdowns again.
That said, Stafford definitely wasn’t implying the offense will need to bail out the defense much. The Rams have one of the better defenses in the league, and that unit only got better with the addition of defensive end Myles Garrett this year.
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