Heading into the 2025 season, there were a lot of questions when it came to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. At 37 years old, he missed the entirety of training camp with a back injury. If there is one thing that doesn’t mix together well, it’s older quarterbacks and back injuries.
However, despite the back and some of the uncertainty around Stafford, he’s having his best start to a season since joining the Rams in 2021. On Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, Stafford threw for 375 yards which was his most in a single game with the Rams.
Through the first four weeks, Stafford has thrown eight touchdowns to two interceptions and his 1,114 passing yards are second in the NFL behind Dak Prescott. He also ranks top-10 in other major quarterback statistics such as EPA per dropback, completion percentage over expected, passer rating, yards per attempt, and big-time throws.
It’s not just what Stafford is doing at age 37, but how he’s doing it and the situation he’s doing it in. The Rams currently have the 31st ranked pass-blocking offensive line according to Pro Football Focus. Despite that, Stafford is tenth in EPA per dropback and tied for eighth in passing success rate. To put that into context, Stafford is one of three quarterbacks to have a bottom-10 pass-blocking offensive line, but rank top-10 in EPA per dropback. He is one of two quarterbacks, along with Dak Prescott, to have a bottom-10 pass-blocking offensive line but rank top-10 in EPA per dropback and passing success rate.
Throughout the Sean McVay era, the quarterback succeeding while the offensive line is struggling simply hasn’t happened. The two have infamously gone hand-in-hand. When the Rams offensive line ranked eighth in pass-blocking in 2018, Jared Goff ranked fourth in EPA per dropback. In 2019 when the Rams offensive line ranked 29th, Goff ranked 13th in EPA per dropback. In 2021, the Rams had the number one offensive line in pass-blocking. That same season, Stafford ranked third in EPA per dropback. The Rams offensive line ranked 30th in pass-blocking last year and Stafford was 16th in EPA per dropback.
Again, this season, Stafford ranks 10th in EPA per dropback, but has the 31st ranked offensive line. Heading into the season, the Rams needed a strong start which is something that they haven’t gotten over the past two years. Stafford has started the season on a high which is exactly what this Rams team needed and he’s doing it without a lot of help in front of him.
Through four weeks, Stafford is currently sixth in MVP odds at +1700 behind Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, and Jordan Love. However, looking at the numbers, Stafford should be much closer to two or three in MVP odds than five or six. He certainly shouldn’t be behind Herbert.
| Matthew Stafford | Josh Allen | Justin Herbert | Patrick Mahomes | Jalen Hurts | Jordan Love | |
| EPA/DB | 0.12 (10th) | 0.28 (1st) | 0.02 (18th) | 0.14 (7th) | -0.01 (21st) | 0.26 (2nd) |
| Passer Rating | 106.1 (7th) | 109.7 (4th) | 92.2 (19th) | 94.2 (17th) | 101.5 (10th) | 113 (3rd) |
| Passing Success % | 50 (7th) | 50 (7th) | 46.6 (16th) | 45.6 (18th) | 41.8 (26th) | 49.6 (11th) |
| QBR | 69.1 (8th) | 77.6 (2nd) | 63.8 (12th) | 75.1 (3rd) | 67.5 (9th) | 63.5 (13th) |
| DVOA | 23.9% (7th) | 25.8% (5th) | 3.9% (16th) | 7.1% (14th) | -6.8% (25th) | 17.8% (9th) |
| DYAR | 333 (3rd) | 318 (4th) | 156 (12th) | 182 (10th) | 31 (25th) | 237 (8th) |
| PFF Grade | 90.7 (3rd) | 84.9 (4th) | 78.6 (7th) | 72.4 (13th) | 75.3 (8th) | 82.6 (5th) |
| CPOE | +4.2 (9th) | +1.2 (16th) | +1.7 (15th) | -4.4 (29th) | +6.2 (6th) | +6.4 (5th) |
| YPA | 8.2 (6th) | 8.0 (8th) | 7.1 (15th) | 6.6 (21st) | 6.0 (25th) | 8.3 (4th) |
| ANY/A | 7.92 (6th) | 8.01 (5th) | 6.22 (17th) | 6.59 (13th) | 5.93 (21st) | 8.11 (4th) |
| Big Time Throw % | 8.3 (1st) | 3.0 (15) | 3.1 (13th) | 4.7 (8th) | 2.9 (17th) | 6.9 (3rd) |
| Avg. Ranking | 6.1 | 6.5 | 14.5 | 13.9 | 17.5 | 6.1 |
With Super Bowl aspirations, the Rams are getting the best out of Matthew Stafford to start the 2025 season. He needs to show that he can hold up over the course of a 17-game season, but the Rams couldn’t ask for much more out of their quarterback. He’s put them in position to win all four games this season as they currently sit at 3-1.
The days with Stafford as the Rams’ quarterback are limited. With a successful year, 2025 could be his last, but his contract also only runs through 2026. Stafford may not be as flashy as Josh Allen, but the Rams quarterback is currently playing at an extremely high level. For a quarterback who some thought may not have much left, he’s showing that he might still have one peak Stafford season left in him.
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