Rams Hit 2-4 as Stafford Slips to Average — SkimNews
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- Rams lost 18-16 at home to the 1-4 Cardinals on Sunday, falling to 2-4 after earlier losses to the 49ers (Melbourne), Broncos, and Bills — three of the NFL's top teams since the start of 2025.
- Matthew Stafford has regressed across major metrics, falling from 4th to 14th in Total QBR, ranking 15th in EPA per dropback and 17th in passer rating (one spot below Deshaun Watson), with his deep-pass yards per attempt dropping from 15.5 (5th) to 9.7 (25th)
- Stafford has thrown six interceptions in six games this season after tossing just eight in 17 games last year, while his precise pass rate when unpressured dropped from 18th to 28th and his deep-throw CPOE swung from +5.8% to -8.5%
- Rams would need to break 60 years of NFL history to reach the home Super Bowl in Inglewood, as no team has ever won its conference in the Super Bowl era after posting a losing record through six weeks
- Sean McVay is calling bootlegs and play-action concepts about 30% less often than in 2025, and Stafford's QBR on throws after four-plus seconds collapsed from 65.7 (12th) to 2.8 (31st out of 33 quarterbacks)
- A missed 65-yard touchdown connection to Puka Nacua in the third quarter — Stafford was hit as he released — turned what could have been the game-winning score into an incompletion in the Cardinals loss
Why it matters: The Rams built their superteam around Stafford's 2025 MVP form, and his across-the-board regression is the single biggest reason their title chase has stalled at 2-4. McVay has cut play-action usage by roughly 30%, leaving Stafford exposed in ways he wasn't a season ago, and no Super Bowl-era team has won its conference after a sub-.500 start through six weeks.
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