The Los Angeles Rams won a sixth consecutive game, shellacking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-7, on Sunday night to take over sole possession of the No. 1 spot in the NFC. The blowout win under the lights beamed a bright beacon on Matthew Stafford's MVP campaign.
For anyone holding out on placing the 37-year-old atop the MVP rankings ahead of Thanksgiving, the veteran signal-caller forced their hand with a near sterling 25-of-35 passing performance for 273 yards and three TDs with zero interceptions.
"He's playing like the most valuable player in the league," wide receiver Davante Adams said, via ESPN. "You can see it in the numbers, the way he's taking command of the huddle and the offense, the way him and Sean (McVay) put things together and work throughout the week together to put together a good product for us. Just all around. I mean, he's a great leader and obviously knows how to put points on the board and keep this offense moving."
Adams knows a thing or three about what an MVP quarterback looks like, having played with Aaron Rodgers during three of his four Most Valuable Player seasons in Green Bay.
Stafford was lights out early and could have easily padded the stat sheet if the Bucs had kept the game remotely close. L.A. scored touchdowns on each of its first three possessions, all Stafford passes, and the Rams rolled up a 31-7 halftime lead before taking their foot off the gas.
"Today it was early (I felt like I was in the zone)," Stafford said. "Sometimes it takes a minute to get into it, but today felt good. I thought Sean did a hell of a job kind of dialing it up for us early on and we were able to go put the pedal to the metal."
Perhaps most impressive for a gunslinger like Stafford is his interception-less streak. He hasn't thrown an interception since Week 3, and leads the league with 30 passing touchdowns. His 30-2 TD-to-INT ratio makes him the fourth player (sixth occurrence) with 30-plus passing TDs and fewer than five INTs in their team's first 11 games of a single season, joining Tom Brady (2007 MVP season), Patrick Mahomes (2020) and Rodgers (2011, 2014 and 2020 MVP seasons). Only Mahomes in 2020 didn't win the MVP.
Stafford's 27 consecutive pass touchdowns without throwing an interception tied Brady for the longest such streak in NFL history. Stafford's streak is the longest in a single season, with Brady's coming over two campaigns (Week 7, 2010 - Week 1, 2011).
"It's hard to put it in words," Adams said of Stafford's streak. "Most quarterbacks can't throw 27 passes without throwing a pick."
Stafford's brilliance without putting the ball in harm's way is a testament to his mind-meld with Sean McVay, the balanced offense and the exquisite production from all the parts.
"When you got a quarterback like that, like a first-ballot Hall of Famer, where you just know he's going to go out there, he's going to put up points, it makes it easy on us," pass rusher Jared Verse said. "But we know every time we come down to the sideline, we can take a little breather, we can take a little breath. And we just got to go out there and hold them down."
Stafford's Hall of Fame discussion will come much easier if he earns an MVP and wins another Super Bowl. Both are on the table for L.A. this year. McVay doesn't see that conversation happening for a while.
"He's a fine wine. He's just getting better with age," McVay said. "I think he's going to play for about 10 more years."
