{"id":120385,"date":"2026-01-05T03:56:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T03:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120385\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T03:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T03:56:56","slug":"matthew-stafford-makes-mvp-case-as-rams-roll-past-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/120385\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Stafford makes MVP case as Rams roll past Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was a modest goal. After being sidelined all of training camp, all Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford<\/a> desired was for his sore back to heal in time for the season opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust make it to Week 1,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got there,\u201d he said, \u201cand then just held on for dear life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford did more than that. Despite some \u201ctouch and go moments,\u201d he did not miss a snap during perhaps the finest season of his 17-year career. And on Sunday, Stafford made a final case for his first most valuable player award.<\/p>\n

He passed for four touchdowns in a 37-20 victory<\/a> over the Arizona Cardinals that gave the Rams the No. 5 seed for the NFC playoffs and a wild-card matchup against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PST in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

The Seattle Seahawks are seeded No. 1 and will have a first-round bye. The No. 2 Chicago Bears play host to the No. 7 Green Bay Packers, and the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles play host to the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

Stafford, 37, is trying to lead the Rams to their second Super Bowl title in five seasons with the team.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams quarterback Matt Stafford passed for four touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Against the Cardinals (3-14) he completed 25 of 40 passes for 259 yards. He connected with tight end Colby Parkinson<\/a> for two touchdowns and receiver Puka Nacua<\/a> and tight end Tyler Higbee<\/a> for one each in a victory that gave the Rams a 12-5 record and second place in the NFC West.<\/p>\n

Stafford finished with a league-leading 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 yards passing. He also moved past Dan Marino for seventh in career touchdown passes with 423.<\/p>\n

Did Stafford think he made a strong case for MVP on Sunday?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was today or the whole year,\u201d he said, chuckling. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to do the best I can, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody did it better, according to coach Sean McVay.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis play speaks for itself,\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n

Edge rusher Jared Verse agreed.<\/p>\n

\"Cardinals <\/p>\n

Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett was sacked six times in a loss to the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe the freakin\u2019 G.O.A.T.,\u201d Verse said, adding, \u201cThat\u2019s one of the best players to ever live.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MVP will not be announced until the week of the Super Bowl. In the meantime the Rams will need Stafford to be at the top of his game, starting with their playoff opener against the Panthers, who defeated them in Week 13 at Bank of America Stadium.<\/p>\n

Stafford had two passes intercepted in that game \u2014 one that was returned for a touchdown \u2014 lost a fumble and also was responsible for a crucial delay-of-game penalty late in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

But the Rams are confident they can avenge that defeat. After losing consecutive games at Seattle and Atlanta, the Rams returned to their winning ways at home. It wasn\u2019t a dominating performance \u2014 the Cardinals led 20-16 late in the third quarter before Stafford led three touchdown drives \u2014 but McVay gave it full spin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like where we\u2019re at right now,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWhat a great opportunity we have to go to Carolina and see what the hell we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams will do it with confidence after their starters shined in the regular season finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what today was about,\u201d defensive lineman Kobie Turner said, \u201cbuilding that momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

To win their first Super Bowl since the 2021 season, the Rams will need the offense, defense and special teams to play complete games.<\/p>\n

An offense that features Stafford and Nacua \u2014 who finished with a league-best 129 catches \u2014 got a boost Sunday by Higbee\u2019s return from injured reserve. The 10th-year pro caught five passes for 91 yards, both season highs.<\/p>\n

It would get even stronger against the Panthers with the expected return of star receiver Davante Adams from a hamstring injury. The future Hall of Famer led the league with 14 touchdown catches despite missing the last three games. Offensive lineman Kevin Dotson also could return from an ankle injury during the playoffs.<\/p>\n

A defense that amassed six sacks Sunday would be fortified by the return of safety Quentin Lake, who practiced last week for the first time since sustaining an elbow injury in November and will be activated for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Special teams also appear to have solidified under interim coordinator Ben Kotwica: See Verse\u2019s blocked field goal against the Falcons that he returned for a touchdown, and kicker Harrison Mevis\u2019 three field goals against the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Before the Rams lost to the Panthers<\/a> in November, they were seeded No. 1 in the NFC and on track for a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the playoffs. Now, to reach the Super Bowl at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, the Rams might have to win three games on the road. They\u2019ve lost three of their last four away from home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play our best,\u201d Turner said, \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter where we\u2019re at or who we\u2019re up against.\u201d<\/p>\n

McVay said the Rams would \u201ccome out swingin.\u2019\u201d And with Stafford at the controls and playing well, they are capable of knocking off any other other team. So don\u2019t bother Stafford with any more questions about the MVP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got bigger fish to fry at the moment,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s what I\u2019ll be worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a modest goal. After being sidelined all of training camp, all Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford desired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[47802,63465,48,52,51,47,50,49,771,63464,18158,8841,10948,11706,10947,63463,776,14921,3373,8934,1539],"class_list":["post-120385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-cardinals","tag-jacoby-brissett","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-mvp-case","tag-no","tag-playoff","tag-puka-nacua","tag-ram","tag-rams","tag-seed-panthers","tag-sunday","tag-third-quarter","tag-touchdown-pass","tag-victory","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}