INGLEWOOD, Calif. – — Matthew Stafford left the field hunched in pain after a disastrous flea-flicker ended with Stafford taking a massive hit to the chest while throwing an interception with his Los Angeles Rams already trailing by nine points in the fourth quarter.
When Stafford caught his breath, he got mad — and then he led the Rams to his first fourth-quarter comeback victory since he did it in the Super Bowl.
“I don’t know if I need to take that level of a shot every week to get going,” said a grinning Stafford, who played with a brace on his sprained thumb.
Stafford looked sharp on a series of impressive late throws, none better than a picturesque 32-yard fling to rookie Puka Nacua.
“I thought (Stafford’s) toughness was on display,” coach Sean McVay said. “Maybe we should punch him in the gut right before the games, huh?”
“I know that late in the game, fourth quarter, we’re within a score, I want the ball," Stafford added. "It just so happened that I had my chest run through the drive before. I don’t know if that’s the thing that gets me going, but sometimes it’s late in the game, you could be playing as poor a game as you want to play, (but) you play one great quarter, you’ve got a chance to win that thing.”
Amen to that Brother Stafford. Amen to that.