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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cameron DaSilva

Matthew Stafford’s recent 3-game stretch is among the best of his career

Matthew Stafford got off to a great start this season, even if the numbers didn’t reflect that. In the first four games of the season, he only had three touchdown passes and five interceptions, but he was picking apart defenses and catching some bad breaks due to drops and tipped passes. The advanced stats from outlets such as Pro Football Focus showed Stafford was among the highest-graded passers in the NFL.

Then in the middle of the season, he hit a little bit of a cold stretch where not only were his numbers underwhelming, but he was showing some inaccuracy – either because of his lingering hip injury or sprained UCL in his thumb.

But in the last three weeks, he’s put together a remarkable stretch to get the Rams into position to potentially make the playoffs. After throwing only nine touchdown passes and eight interceptions in the first nine games, Stafford has thrown 10 touchdown passes and only one interception in his last three starts.

It’s not hyperbole to say this is one of the best stretches of his entire career. It’s only the fifth time Stafford has had at least three touchdown passes in three consecutive games, and it’s just the second time he’s ever had at least 10 touchdown passes and one or fewer interceptions in a three-game span.

Query Results Table
Passing
Rk Player Team Streak Streak Started Streak Ended Active Cmp Att Inc Cmp% Yds TD Int Pick6 TD% Int% Rate Sk Yds Sk% Y/A AY/A ANY/A Y/C Ind. Games Link
1 Matthew Stafford LAR 3 2023-11-26 2023-12-10 * 70 111 41 63.1 802 10 1 0 9.0 0.9 111.0 2 12 1.77 7.2 8.62 8.36 11.5 Games List
2 Matthew Stafford LAR 3 2021-11-28 2021-12-13 70 106 36 66.0 884 9 1 1 8.5 0.9 116.2 6 42 5.36 8.3 9.61 8.72 12.6 Games List
3 Matthew Stafford LAR 3 2021-10-17 2021-10-31 71 101 30 70.3 890 10 1 0 9.9 1.0 126.3 3 24 2.88 8.8 10.35 9.82 12.5 Games List
4 Matthew Stafford DET 3 2019-10-20 2019-11-03 81 118 37 68.6 1112 10 3 0 8.5 2.5 116.2 8 61 6.35 9.4 9.97 8.86 13.7 Games List
5 Matthew Stafford DET 3 2011-12-18 2012-01-01 94 147 53 63.9 1284 12 2 0 8.2 1.4 113.3 7 54 4.55 8.7 9.76 8.96 13.7 Games List
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 12/11/2023.

His passer rating during this three-game streak is an impressive 111.0 and he’s completing 63% of his passes while taking just two sacks. His yardage total (802) may not be eye-popping, but he’s consistently putting the Rams in position to score and win games despite playing on one of the youngest and most inexperienced rosters in football.

If you want another example to show just how good Stafford has been in his last three games, take a look at the list of quarterbacks since Week 12 who have at least 10 touchdown passes:

  1. Matthew Stafford: 10

That’s it. That’s the list. The next-closest player is Dak Prescott, who has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions, but no one else has more than seven touchdown passes in the last three weeks.

If Stafford continues to play the way he has in the last three weeks, the Rams are going to have a good chance to win their next four games against the Commanders, Saints, Giants and 49ers.

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