On Monday night against the Cardinals, quarterback Matthew Stafford had the highest single-game postseason passer rating in Rams history in the same game that he threw the fewest passes, with the exception of games he left due to injury.
Was that the plan?
“No, that was just flow of the game,” Stafford told reporters on Wednesday. “We want to be balanced, like we always are, but nobody’s ever talking about that number, to be honest with you. We’re just trying to go out there and feel the flow of the game. I think it’s credit to our guys up front. It’s good as they were moving those guys and creating rush lanes. Our guys did a great job running the football. And then our defense was doing such a good job of giving us a short field. There were so many times where we had the ball with great field position and those don’t sometimes equate to long drives. Less plays, less opportunities to throw the football. But I take it as a positive. I love throwing the ball, no doubt. But I love it when I hand it off and our guys are getting 10, 12 [yards] a pop too. So, at this point I’ll take them anyway we can get them.”
Stafford said it didn’t feel strange to be passing so infrequently, but he said “I could tell coming out of the game that I didn’t put it up in the air a bunch of times.”
Coach Sean McVay similarly attributed the low number of passes to the flow of the game “and how that dictates what’s the best way to be able to win it.”
This week, it could be dramatically different. If, for example, the Rams can’t run the ball against the Buccaneers defense, Stafford will have to throw it more. Maybe much more.