Matthew Stafford put together a near-perfect performance against the Arizona Cardinals in the wild-card round, not needing to do too much to help his team in a blowout win. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, however, it was a different story. The Rams desperately needed him to be at his very best late in the game with the score tied and only 42 seconds left on the clock.
For the 43rd time in his career, he led a game-winning drive, his first in the postseason. He hit Cooper Kupp with a 44-yard bomb to set up Matt Gay’s game-winning field goal, leaving his mark on his new team in the biggest game of his life.
After the Bucs mounted a miraculous 24-point comeback, the Rams pulled out the win in the final seconds – and Stafford summed up the feeling perfectly. He says it felt like the Rams snatched the Buccaneers’ soul after they erased the big deficit.
