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- The Rams defeated the 49ers 42-26 to extend their winning streak to four games, with Matthew Stafford throwing four touchdown passes.
- Stafford, who leads the NFL with 25 touchdown passes, hasn’t thrown an interception in six games as the Rams improved to 7-2.
- The win avenged the Rams’ 26-23 overtime loss to the 49ers in Week 5 while keeping them tied atop the NFC West.
SANTA CLARA — This is not a one-off.
This is no hot streak or a flash in the pan.
So don’t look away. Pay attention.
Otherwise, risk missing the master class that Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is conducting this season.
One that has the 17th-year pro squarely in the conversation for his first NFL most valuable player award.
“I see those people say stuff like that,” Stafford said Sunday after passing for four touchdowns in the Rams’ 42-26 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium, “and all I can think about is like I’m just lucky to have unbelievable teammates.”
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Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in their 42-26 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Stafford, 37, is playing as if he were in the middle, not near the end, of a possible Hall of Fame career.
On Sunday he tossed touchdown passes to receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams and tight ends Davis Allen and Colby Parkinson as the Rams avenged an overtime loss to the 49ers in Week 5 and improved to 7-2.
How efficient has Stafford played this season?
He has passed for a league-leading 25 touchdowns.
With only two interceptions.
“He can walk on water right now,” Nacua said.
In the last three games, Stafford has passed for 13 touchdowns. His second touchdown pass Sunday, to Allen, was the 400th of his career.
Stafford’s name already fills the NFL record book. He is among the top 10 in several passing categories. But he never has been this efficient for this long.
Stafford has not had a pass intercepted in the last six games, the longest such stretch of his career.
“It looks like the game is really in slow motion to him right now,” coach Sean McVay said.
Stafford’s recent run of excellence is on par with other awe-inspiring Los Angeles sports icons.
He has been as dominant as the UCLA fast break and full court press from the 1970s. Clayton Kershaw’s 12-to-6 curveball. Freddie Freeman’s walk-off homer swing.
This is a Wayne Gretzky assist. A Nolan Ryan no-hitter.
A Reggie Bush breakaway run. A Serena Williams backhand winner. A Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sky hook, a Magic Johnson no-look pass, a Kobe Bryant game-winning three. A Lisa Leslie low-post move. A Candace Parker dunk.
Paul Tagliabue, who helped bring labor peace and riches to the NFL during his 17 years as commissioner, died Sunday from heart failure at 84 years old
A Jim Murray or Bill Plaschke column.
A fill-in-the-blank run of excellence.
Overblown? Perhaps. The NFL is a humbling league. Stafford’s recent run could end next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium.
So enjoy it in real time. Follow Stafford’s lead.
“I have fun out there,” he said when asked about what Nacua described as Stafford’s ‘shimmy shake’ touchdown celebration. “I lose my mind when we score touchdowns.”
That’s how defensive coordinators must feel when Stafford completes one of his patented no-look passes.
Adams played eight seasons in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers. He knows what an MVP looks like.
“It’s looked like MVP play to me all year,” Adams said, pointing to a Week 2 game against the Tennessee Titans, when Stafford shook off an interception and led the Rams to victory. “Just to rally a team and continue to lead at a high level when things don’t go your way, I think that’s what really shows what an MVP is like.”
Stafford’s success harks to 2021, when he passed for 41 touchdowns and led the Rams to a Super Bowl title. He is on pace for an even more impressive statistical finish.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford leads the NFL in passing yards. With Puka Nacua and Davante Adams by his side, could he finish the season as the NFL’s passing leader?
“The heater that he’s on, it’s elevating everybody else’s play,” Nacua said, “and we’re continuing to jump on that bandwagon with him and let him take us as far as he can.”
If Stafford continues his stellar play the Rams could find themselves right back here at Levi’s Stadium.
For Super Bowl LX.
