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12/03 19:20 CST Rams QB Matthew Stafford has already moved past the 3-turnover
game that slowed his standout season
Rams QB Matthew Stafford has already moved past the 3-turnover game that slowed
his standout season
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --- Matthew Stafford's 192 career interceptions are the most
among active quarterbacks. He has also fumbled 91 times in his 17-year NFL
career.
So his three crucial turnovers in the Los Angeles Rams' 31-28 loss at Carolina
aren't going to send Stafford into a funk or a crisis of competence.
"I know that whether we win or we lose, I move on pretty darn quickly,"
Stafford said Wednesday. "I just know that I have another challenge in front of
me."
The eighth-leading passer in NFL history has the experience and the maturity to
know that a quarterback can't allow mistakes or bad luck to beat him twice ---
particularly not during a season in which he has played his way into strong
contention for his first league MVP award.
"I've played in a lot of games now, so (moving on) just feels like it comes
easy to me," Stafford said. "It doesn't mean that I don't care about each and
every single one of them, and do everything I can to try and help us win each
and every one of them. But I do know that unless it's the last game of the
year, there's another one coming, and you better be ready for it."
Stafford knows that his two interceptions --- doubling his season total --- and
a late fumble were the biggest reasons why the Rams lost to the Panthers and
fell out of the No. 1 spot in the NFC standings. There's still nothing he'll do
much differently when he leads Los Angeles (9-3) to Arizona on Sunday.
"I've got a bunch of plays I've got to learn," he said. "I've got to make sure
everybody's in the right spots at the right places. I do move on pretty quick,
so I feel good about that, and I think the guys in our locker room do as well."
Stafford has had a reputation as an aggressive gunslinger for most of his
career. He threw at least 10 interceptions in each of his first nine full
seasons with Detroit, and he even led the NFL with 17 interceptions during his
first season with the Rams.
That season that ended with a Super Bowl victory --- albeit one in which he
also threw two interceptions to the Bengals before hitting Cooper Kupp for the
winning touchdown on a masterful late drive.
Stafford is still taking risks at 37 years old. He throws into tight windows
with more frequency than most quarterbacks, usually trusting Davante Adams or
Puka Nacua to come up with the ball in difficult spots. With increasing
frequency, he's also throwing the no-look passes for which he has become famous
ever since he did it on the winning drive in the Super Bowl.
Before the trip to rain-soaked Charlotte, Stafford had done an exceptional job
of taking care of the ball this season, particularly during the Rams' six-game
winning streak to the top of the conference.
He set an NFL record by throwing 28 straight touchdown passes without an
interception while playing eight straight pick-free games, and he had lost only
two fumbles in the Rams' first 11 games.
Coach Sean McVay isn't discounting his star quarterback's mistakes at Carolina,
but he also doesn't think Stafford needs much advice on how to play quarterback.
"The first one, sometimes those are unfortunate occupational hazards of a
tipped ball right there and there's not a lot that you can do," McVay said.
"But then the next two, absolutely you talk about, ?What are the things that we
could do to prevent turning the football over, whether it's the interception or
the fumble?'"
Stafford's first interception since Week 3 was painful, because it came on a
tipped pass by Carolina's Derrick Brown into the arms of former Rams safety
Nick Scott in the end zone.
That turnover cost the Rams at least three points --- and on their next drive,
Mike Jackson jumped a route and returned Stafford's second interception for a
48-yard touchdown.
Stafford's fumble came on the Rams' last offensive snap, forced by Brown while
Stafford tried to escape a collapsing pocket. Again, the Rams lost at least
three points in what turned out to be a three-point loss.
"I still thought we gave ourselves a chance at the end of the game to win it,"
Stafford said. "It was a mistake by myself to let that ball come out of my
hands and not give us a chance to at least extend the game or going into
overtime."
NOTES: Adams (hamstring), DT Poona Ford (calf) and CB Darious Williams (tibia)
all missed practice Wednesday. McVay is currently confident all three will play
Sunday. ... RB Kyren Williams (ankle), S Kam Kinchens (shoulder) and LB Byron
Young (knee) were all limited. ... Tutu Atwell was a full practice participant,
yet McVay didn't commit to activating his speedy $10 million receiver. Atwell
was healthy last week, but didn't get in uniform. "It's been a unique set of
circumstances relative to the timing and figuring out how you get 48 guys up,"
McVay said.
___
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