Analyst Explores Stafford’s Chances to Earn NFL MVP Honors

Every NFL team is tied for first place, so why not consider Matthew Stafford for the NFL MVP? That’s what analyst Eric Edholm did this week, calling the 37-year-old quarterback his team’s best candidate for the prestigious honor.

“We've seen Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers win MVP awards at age 37 or older in the past dozen seasons,” Edholm wrote Wednesday, “so the idea of Stafford snagging the hardware prior to turning 38 (his birthday's the day before Super Bowl LX) isn't some crazy stretch.”

As Edholm reminded readers, Stafford was exceptional in 2023, the only year he’s received MVP votes. After a 3-6 start that year, the quarterback led the Rams to a 7-1 finish and a postseason berth. Over his final eight games, including that 24-23 loss at Detroit in the wild-card round, Stafford compiled a 106.7 passer rating, with 2,262 passing yards, 18 touchdown passes and four interceptions.

The year before, Stafford finished the season on injured reserve with a concussion and neck injury. He also missed one game in 2023 with a right thumb injury, but other than those instances, he’s been under center for his team.

“The problem with Stafford in recent years has been his health,” Edholm said, “and he's flirted with the idea of retirement before, so the idea of getting through a season healthy is a little harder to imagine.

“With some good injury luck, though, Stafford could be in line for one of his best statistical campaigns, throwing passes to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. File Stafford under the ‘long shot’ category, but you can't totally dismiss his MVP chances, even this late in his career.”

You can’t totally dismiss his Hall of Fame chances, either. Rich Eisen said last week that Stafford already has earned enshrinement in Canton, even before his 17th NFL season begins.

“The numbers I have given, to me, makes it a no-brainer,” Eisen said on Rich Eisen Show. “And you could say ‘stat compiler’ but he was doing it for one of the worst teams in the NFL and stuck it out to the point where he finally said, ‘I need to go somewhere else.’ And then as soon as he got somewhere else, he got the ring.”

The Rams as a franchise haven’t won an MVP since the turn of the century, when they were in St. Louis and captured three consecutive honors from 1999-2001 (Kurt Warner in both 1999 and 2001, and Marshall Faulk in 2000).

The last time the Rams won an MVP while based in Los Angeles was Roman Gabriel in 1969.

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