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[Los Angeles Rams]

Rams schedule thoughts: Litmus Test Before the Bye

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

49ers, Ravens, and Jaguars will test Rams ahead of scheduled bye week

We’re diving deep into the Los Angeles Rams’ schedule. Taking it piece-by-piece and breaking into natural segments based on strength of opposition and key matchups.

Weeks 1-4, The Opening Quarter: Texans, Titans, Eagles, Colts​

Weeks 5-8, Litmus Test Before the Bye: 49ers, Ravens, Jaguars​

Weeks 9-13, Clash Against the NFC South: Saints, 49ers, Seahawks, Buccaneers, Panthers​

Weeks 14-18, A Potentially Tough Close: Cardinals, Lions, Seahawks, Falcons, Cardinals​

Next up are weeks five through eight of the regular season, which will bring a tough test heading into the bye:

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Litmus Test Before the Bye​

There will be tougher matchups on the Rams’ calendar than the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts, both of whom LA will see in their first four games. Still, the Rams cannot afford to enter a tough stretch against three playoff hopefuls at worse than 2-2.

Los Angeles has started slow each of the past two seasons. With the way the schedule falls in 2025, they will not be afforded that luxury this year.

On an optimistic note—if LA does emerge from The Opening Quarter at 3-1 or better—they can cement their status as a top contender by winning at least two of the next three. Should that happen, we could be discussing the potential of the top seed in the NFC conference and the team hosting playoff games at SoFi Stadium.

But in a glass half empty view—should LA once again start slow—dropping multiple of three games against the 49ers, Ravens, and Jaguars could prove insurmountable over the second half of the year.

Week 5 vs San Francisco 49ers; Thursday, Oct 2nd​

I’m personally not too bullish on San Francisco’s prospects this upcoming season. Their star core is aging and oft-injured, and despite taking the team to a Super Bowl the jury is still largely out on whether Brock Purdy can elevate a lesser supporting cast.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The 49ers are never an easy out. That’ll be true again in 2025, especially as defensive coordinator Robert Saleh returns and attempts to regain a lost sense of physicality.

The Rams bucked a historic trend by taking down the 49ers twice last season. This is still a division rival that’s had LA’s number since Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan joined the NFC West in 2017.

Week 6 at Baltimore Ravens; Sunday, Oct 12th​

Matchups against the Ravens haven’t been kind to the Rams in recent years.

Back in 2019 following the acquisition of Jalen Ramsey and trading Marcus Peters to Baltimore amidst a playoff push, Lamar Jackson scored five TD’s in a 45-6 rout of LA.

In Matthew Stafford’s first season in Los Angeles, the Rams edged out the Ravens 20-19 on their way to winning Super Bowl LVI. Jackson did not play in this game and Tyler Huntley was under center instead.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

The latest contest came during the 2023 season and ended in overtime with a game-winning TD by Ravens punt returner Tylan Wallace. It was a back and forth effort where Stafford and Jackson combined for six TD’s. Former Ram Odell Beckham, Jr. got in on the action with nearly 100 yards and a score.

In short, this game is certain to be electric. Jackson has accumulated major statistics and two wins against the Rams when healthy—although nothing compared to Saquon Barkley’s two efforts against LA year year. This will be must-see TV.

At best it’s a 50-50 proposition that the Rams leave Baltimore with a win.

Week 7 at Jacksonville Jaguars (London); Sunday, Oct 19th​

Count out the Jaguars at your own peril.

Liam Coen comes to Jacksonville to get the best out of former number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence. This will also be LA’s first look at this year’s second overall pick and two-way WR/CB Travis Hunter.

But that doesn’t even touch on all the talent the Jaguars have accumulated. Brian Thomas, Jr. seems to be one of the brightest young names at the receiver position across all the NFL. The defense is littered with premium draft choices headlined by a formidable pass rushing duo in Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker.

Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It’s possible that my optimism surrounding Jacksonville is year too early. Still, former Ram James Gladstone is pulling the right strings as general manager and has the team on an ascending path. He’s leading with boldness, something clearly gleamed from his time under Les Snead.

The Jaguars’ turnaround is purely predicated on their ability to help Lawrence reach new heights. He’s as physically talented as any quarterback in the NFL and that could easily prove challenging in an already tough stretch of the Rams’ schedule.

Week 8: BYE​

A bye week squarely in the middle of the season is what you hope for ahead of the schedule release. It’s not too early and it’s far from too late.

It’ll be worth monitoring Alaric Jackson’s health to start the season. Should he miss time early, the bye week could be an ideal point to bring him back into the fold.

We should also keep an eye on young players who might be due for a larger role over the second half of the year, such as second round rookie TE Terrance Ferguson breaking into the starting lineup or increased workloads for running backs Blake Corum and Jarquez Hunter behind Kyren Williams.

Source: https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2025/7/7/24463281/rams-nfl-schedule-49ers-ravens-jaguars

 

[Los Angeles Rams]

History of age-37 quarterbacks

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Can Matthew Stafford reach the pantheon of these great 37-year-old quarterbacks?

Extending your career to age 37 and beyond is a relatively new phenomenon in the NFL. How 37-year-old Matthew Stafford will perform this season is anyone’s guess, but the possibility of being the best quarterback in the league is only imaginable because we’ve seen it happen before with 37-year-old MVPs like Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers.

Could Stafford be the next?

A brief history of the 37-year-old quarterback​

The only two pre-1990s quarterback to throw over 400 passes at age 37 were George Blanda, who had a league-leading 505 attempts for the Houston Oilers in 1964, and Roger Staubach.

I think George Blanda’s widow still is cashing his civil war pension check pic.twitter.com/fOImtFJKzB

— Brian from Worcester (@Brian27843245) January 10, 2021​

The Hall of Famer who briefly retired at age 32 — and then returned to play 16 more seasons — led the NFL with 27 interceptions that year. Which was at least not as bad as the 42 interceptions that he threw in 1962 or the 30 interceptions that he threw in 1965.

Yes, it was a different passing era, but Blanda threw the most interceptions in every season from 1962 to 1965, a total of 124 interceptions in four years.

That was 39 more interceptions than the next-most by any quarterback.

Blanda continued to start at quarterback until he was 39, but spent his 40s as a kicker for the Oakland Raiders and extending his career until he was 48. He threw his last NFL touchdown when he was 47, but his last interception when he was 48.

Staubach had 461 passes for the Cowboys in 1979, throwing 27 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a team that made the playoffs at 11-5. It would be Staubach’s final season despite being his fifth straight Pro Bowl nod.

We wouldn’t see another QB throw at least 400 passes at age 37 until Steve DeBerg in 1991, which he did with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Several more 37-year-old QBs trickled in through the 90s:​

• Warren Moon led the NFL in completion rate (58.3) in 1993
• Dave Krieg led the NFL in interceptions (21) in 1995
• John Elway won the Super Bowl in 1997 (and again in 1998)
• Steve Young and Dan Marino both continued to play at a high level until they were 38
• And Doug Flutie closed out the decade with his age-37 season in 1999, a year after winning Comeback Player of the Year with the Bills

History will look back on the 90s as the transition period from an era where QBs were expected to retire by 35 into one where these signal callers (and the NFL) realized they were leaving millions of dollars and many opportunities on the table by giving up too soon.

The league changed rules to protect their stars even more than they were already being protected and QBs were changing their health regiments to make sure they could squeeze every last day out of their playing careers...

Beginning with Tom Brady’s well-documented journey to turn a dad bod into the longest career of all-time.

Tom Brady: Monitored his health with a strict exercise and nutrition plan and regular advanced medical testing.

Ken Stabler: Woke up that morning so figured he was probably ok.

Advantage: Stabler pic.twitter.com/xDpcRyE0dL

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) October 2, 2024​

The 2000s saw Vinny Testaverde, Rich Gannon (MVP), Brett Favre, and Kurt Warner (Super Bowl appearance) play at age 37, but career expectancy was taken to another level in the 2010s with Brady, Drew Brees, and Peyton Manning.

Brady played until he was 45 (and led the NFL in attempts that year), while Manning enjoyed his best career statistical season at age 37, and Brees completed at least 70% of his passes in each season from age 37 to 41.

If you think that Stafford can’t hit career-highs in passing yards and touchdowns or win MVP because he’s coming off of three humdrum seasons with the Rams, you should think again.

Age 37 NFL records​

Most passing yards and TDs: Peyton Manning, 5,477 yards and 55 TDs in 2013​

Did you remember that after his missed the entire 2011 season with the Colts that many people expected Peyton Manning to return as a shell of his former self, if he ever returned at all? His free agency in 2012 was well-covered and interesting to monitor, but could the Broncos really be getting the same old Manning when he was 36 and coming off of neck surgery?

They got someone better than the old Peyton Manning.

At age 36, Manning led the NFL with 68.6% completions and a 79.6 QBR under head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. The next year, Adam Gase took over at OC and the Broncos scored 38 points per game as Manning totaled career-highs with 55 TDs and 5,477 passing yards. That game-changing season by Manning, who averaged 342.3 passing yards PER GAME (53 more yards than 2024 leader Joe Burrow in the same category) didn’t result in a Super Bowl win, but Manning’s dominance in Denver will never be forgotten.

And even when he actually was a shell of his former self, Manning finally got that second ring in 2015 right before retiring.

Most passing attempts: Drew Brees, 673 in 2016​

In 2016, Brees threw for 5,208 yards and 325.5 yards per game at age 37. He had 37 touchdowns with 15 interceptions but wasn’t even an MVP finalist because the Saints went 7-9 that year. But don’t blame the offense.

New Orleans ranked first in yards and second in scoring but 31st in points allowed.

Brees had two 1,000-yard receivers in Brandin Cooks and Michael Thomas, but drew a bad deck with his defense. It was the first of five consecutive years in which Brees completed at least 70% of his passes.

Highest Completion Percentage and passer rating: Aaron Rodgers, 70.7% and 121.5 in 2020​

At a time when he was under the microscope of the media for what he was doing off of the field, Rodgers won back-to-back MVPs for the Packers at age 37 and 38.

Between 2020-2021, Rodgers threw a combined 85 touchdowns and only nine (!) interceptions! It is perhaps the best stretch of QB play we’ve ever seen.

Whether or not Rodgers still has it with the Steelers at age 42 is unknown, but he was unstoppable until he was 38.

Super Bowl winners: Tom Brady (2014), John Elway (1997), Johnny Unitas (1970)​

Yes, you can win Super Bowls with 37-year-old quarterbacks. It has happened three times before.

In fact, Brady was dominant in the 2014 playoffs (10 TD) and led a fourth quarter comeback against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

Kurt Warner was possibly even better than Brady during Arizona’s run to the Super Bowl in 2008 (11 TD, 3 INT, 112.2 passer rating) and fell just shy of beating the Steelers.

Manning and Rich Gannon led their teams to the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2002, but also fell short.

But Elway led the Broncos to a Super Bowl win in 1997, while Unitas was on fire for the Colts in the 1970 playoffs, beating the Bengals, Raiders, and the Cowboys in the postseason. (Unitas had three turnovers in the Super Bowl win over Dallas, but I’m building a narrative over here.)

And that’s before being 37 was so widely accepted!

Matthew Stafford can do anything at age 37. He can win the Super Bowl, win MVP, lead the league in major stats, and have a career-season. He can also have a bad year...but that’s OLD news.

Source: https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2025/7/7/24463439/rams-matthew-stafford-age-37-quarterbacks

 

[Los Angeles Rams]

Matthew Stafford will have best supporting cast since joining Rams. Can he win again?

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

ESPN ranks Rams supporting cast as top-5 in the NFL

When Matthew Stafford spent the first 12 years of his career with the Detroit Lions, the narrative was always that the quarterback never had a consistent supporting cast to help him. That immediately changed when Stafford arrived to the Los Angeles Rams and was met with Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and a good defense led by Aaron Donald.

Due to injuries and a transition period on the team’s salary cap, the Rams haven’t been able to provide Stafford that same level of supporting cast since. However, that has changed heading into 2025 as the biggest offseason addition for the Rams was the signing of wide receiver Davante Adams.

It’s pretty clear that as long as the Rams are healthy along the offensive line and Stafford has a strong supporting cast, the quarterback will put his team in position to win. In 2023, the Rams went 6-1 down the stretch when healthy and had a chance to beat the Detroit Lions on the final drive in the playoffs. They went 6-1 again last year in the final seven games of the regular season, and then had a chance to win on the final drive in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles.

As Stafford gets older, those opportunities become less of a guarantee. That’s especially the case when considering some of Stafford’s inconsistencies even when the Rams were successful down the stretch last season.

Heading into 2025, the Rams may have one foot in the now and another in the future, but it’s clear they would like to make one more push with Stafford at quarterback. It would have been easy for the Rams to move on from Stafford this offseason when teams inquired about a potential trade. Still, the Rams opted to keep Stafford for 2025 with the hopes of trying to capitalize on another Super Bowl window.

The positive for Stafford is that this may be the best supporting cast that he’s had since joining the Rams. Every season, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranks the playmakers from each NFL team. Coming in at number five for the 2025 season was the Rams. Said Barnwell,

“If you could guarantee 17 games from the Rams’ big three at their 2024 levels of play, they might challenge to rank No. 1 here. Puka Nacua missed six games and still came within a screen of making it to 1,000 yards, as his 3.7 yards per route run comfortably led the NFL. Kyren Williams ranked sixth in rushing yards per game despite not having a single run top 30 yards...After a difficult first three months of the year, Davante Adams brought in 576 receiving yards and six scores from December 1 onward, ranking among the league leaders in both categories. Can the Rams expect all three of those guys to live up to those expectations? Nacua is a superstar. Williams is a great gap-scheme back, but he has also fumbled eight times over the past two seasons. And Adams had been declining since the start of 2023 before a late-season surge with longtime friend Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. These guys are all great players, so while I have my reservations about the Rams getting the most out of Adams, it would hardly be a surprise if they all garnered Pro Bowl consideration.”

Barnwell’s number five ranking for the Rams playmakers is certainly notable. It’s also the best ranking that the Rams have had since Stafford took over. Looking at past seasons, the highest the Rams ranked was seventh in 2022:

• 2021 - 10th
• 2022 - 7th
• 2023 - 23rd
• 2024 - 9th

This is the first time that Stafford has had a supporting cast ranked inside the top-five. Nacua and Adams are arguably a top-three wide receiver duo. While Williams may not be a top-10 running back, he still managed four 100-yard games last season.

The biggest question mark for the Rams offense is exactly where you don’t want questions which is on the offensive line. DJ Humphries will be expected to step in at left tackle while Alaric Jackson recovers from blood clots. As it stands, the Rams are seen to have an average offensive line. PFF recently ranked them 15th while Sharp Football Analytics ranked them 13th. Said Sharp Football,

“The offensive line finished 13th in our rankings for the second consecutive year, earning one top 10 vote in the process. The biggest question facing the Rams is the health of left tackle Alaric Jackson, who is being treated for blood clots in his leg three months after signing an extension.”

If the Rams are able to head into the 2025 season healthy, this will be the best supporting cast that Stafford has had since joining the team in 2021. Stafford has already gotten the monkey off of his back by winning the Super Bowl in 2021, but another season in which the Rams are among the best teams in the NFL and another deep playoff run could add to his legacy.

With Stafford heading into his age 37 season, these opportunities are dwindling. The Rams front office has done its job of surrounding Stafford with a strong supporting cast. It will be up to Stafford on what he does with it.

Source: https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2025/7/8/24463799/rams-matthew-stafford-supporting-cast