The Los Angeles Rams knew it hadn’t been working with quarterback Jared Goff at the helm. Despite drafting him with the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Rams didn’t believe the 27-year-old was the man to lead them to the promised land. It is the reason they opted to make a trade with the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford. Detroit received Goff, a first-round pick in 2022 and 2023 along with a third-round pick in 2021 for Stafford.
Even with the hefty price tag, the deal worked out well for the Rams as they celebrated the second Super Bowl triumph in franchise history on Sunday evening after they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. Down 20-16 late in the fourth quarter, Stafford hit Cooper Kupp for a 1-yard touchdown pass with just 1:25 left to play in the game.
“That’s hard work, that’s hours together,” Stafford said following the victory, via Sportsnet.ca. “I just thank coach (Sean McVay) for putting it … ‘Hey, Matthew, you and Coop go get this thing done.’ He kept calling plays for him, kept finding ways to get him the ball. He made unbelievable plays; that’s what he does.”
Rams’ head coach Sean McVay became the youngest coach in NFL history to win the league’s most prestigious prize at 36-years-old.
“For the offence to be able to find a way, and then Aaron to be able to finish it off, it’s poetic, man,” said the coach following the game.
Stafford ended up being the missing piece in the Ram’s masterpiece after he spent years being criticized in Detroit. During his time with the Lions, the franchise only made the playoffs on three occasions and had failed to win a single postseason game.
“Hopefully,” Stafford told members of the media when I asked about his legacy, via the Ringer. “It’s with a ring or two. But, I mean, it’s hard because I don’t care what people I didn’t play with say about me. I just want the guys I played with to know that, when they hear my name, they say, ‘That dude showed up, worked, played through a lot, good teammate, good friend.’”
The veteran finished the game going 26/40 with 283 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was not named Super Bowl MVP though as that honor went to Kupp.
“I don’t know what it was, there was just this vision that God revealed to me that we were gonna come back, we were gonna be a part of a Super Bowl and we were gonna win it,” Kupp said, via ESPN. “And somehow, I was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game.”
“Whatever it is, I just want to execute my job to the best of my ability,” Kupp continued. “I trust that as the game goes on, I will have opportunities, as well, and I just want to stay ready for those things, stay locked in.”
The Rams last won the Super Bowl in 1999 when the team was still located in St. Louis.
