Rams Matthew Stafford Puts in Shocking Performance in Tuesday's Practice

Matthew Stafford

On Stafford's very first throw, he hit Puka Nacua with a pass that needed the perfect amount of touch, timing, and power while under pressure with a closing passing lane. Stafford on Tuesday was in peak form, demanding nothing but the best of himself. He's ready to roll and the offense is ready to run through a brick wall.

On one play, Stafford found Tutu Atwell downfield. To make the throw, Stafford was off-balence, moving against his momentum and yet, rocketed the ball right into Atwell's hands. Problem was Atwell dropped what would have been a touchdown.

This might be a concern because Atwell did drop another downfield pass in training camp but I wouldn't read too much into it. Atwell caught a few more passes on the day and he's a gamer who plays best when the lights are bright.

I expressed concerns about him and then he torched the Cowboys so take that as you will.

Stafford in the meantime was poised, proficient, and executed well in the red zone. Puka Nacua was a top target for him.

Run Defense

While it's way too premature to state the Rams have the best run defense in the NFL, especially after we saw the Philadelphia Eagles run all over them in the playoffs, the front office made it clear that the Eagles performance should never happen again.

Two men have quickly factored into the team's dominant performances and that is Poona Ford and Nate Landman. Ford, the quintessential double-team killer, has plugged up the interior with whomever is beside him. While one would expect Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske to be those guys, do not discount what Tyler Davis has done as well.

Ford has been a perpetual force and he was one of the reasons why the Chargers went from having one of the worst defenses in 2024 to the NFL's number one scoring defense in 2024.

Jared Verse controls the edge better than anyone and Nate Landman has been supurb in maintaining gap integrity. Let's not forget Omar Speights, who has played sound football with a fearless mentality.

Kyren Williams

I can't go into details, but what I saw from Kyren Williams on Monday excited the football palate. With the Notre Dame running back now under contract for the foreseeable future, Sean McVay has peeled back the next evolution of his offense, and Williams is the perfect fit for everything McVay needs.

Williams is Stafford's right hand man so expect constant communication between the two as unlike a lot of quarterbacks in the modern NFL, Stafford is a true field general and Williams is willing to be positioned in whatever way his quarterback needs.