The last time Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford saw Tom Brady, Stafford left early with an injury. Brady left early because it had become a boat race.
Brady had 348 yards and four touchdowns in only one half. If he’d played the second half, he might have shattered Norm Van Brocklin’s 70-year-old single-game record of 554.
This time around, only four games later for Stafford, his new team has a 2-0 record and Stafford is on the short list of MVP candidates. It helps to be playing for a much better team.
But it’s still Brady and the Bucs. If Stafford wants to show it was more about the Lions than him, this is his best chance to do it. Go toe-to-toe with the GOAT and perhaps beat him, and anyone not taking Stafford seriously will begin to do so.
Three years ago in Week Three, Stafford’s Lions somehow stunned Brady’s Patriots. This time around, a Stafford win would echo much more loudly throughout the NFL, making the Rams a serious contender for another Super Bowl berth.