Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
Rams LB Shaun Dolac has a PCL injury, which is why he went on injured reserve.

WR Jordan Whittington got his knee rolled up on. The Rams are hoping he can play on Saturday, but they do expect to have Davante Adams for that one, too.

Matthew Stafford makes final MVP push to cap off a regular season that saved his joy

Nate Atkins

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6940884/2026/01/05/rams-matthew-stafford-mvp-case/?source=emp_shared_article

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The final regular-season game of Matthew Stafford’s 17th NFL season wasn’t going according to plan.

In a get-right opportunity at SoFi Stadium against an Arizona Cardinals team on an eight-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Rams had every intention of playing their starters, returning to their offensive baseline — and perhaps something more for their leader along the way.

But through nearly three quarters, Stafford was sailing downfield passes that didn’t land, playing in long down-and-distance situations and watching the ball slip through his tight ends’ hands. But when it culminated in a four-point deficit, Stafford did what he’s done so much in a season he didn’t quite see coming.

He dialed in. And everyone else followed.

Stafford went back to those tight ends time and again, right as the run game was finally finding life against a tired Cardinals defense. On four throws, he hit star receiver Puka Nacua for 9 yards, running back Blake Corum for 10 yards and then found those tight ends again — 21 yards to Tyler Higbee up the seam and 21 yards to Colby Parkinson on play action as he drifted backward with a rusher in his face and lofted a ball that Parkinson ran under in stride before barreling into the end zone.

Then he did it again, and again. All of a sudden, Stafford turned a four-point deficit into three long drives capped by touchdown passes to tight ends. The final one was a sidearm shot to Parkinson from a yard out, marking the last throw of an immaculate regular-season campaign he never knew would get off the ground. That throw, too, was the final statement in the race for one honor this history-chasing quarterback has yet to chase down.

In the end, Stafford was 25-of-40 passing for 259 yards and four touchdowns as the Rams secured a 37-20 victory over the Cardinals to lock up the No. 5 seed in the NFC and set up a wild-card matchup with the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.

“I think Matthew’s the MVP of the league,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “He played that way. I wouldn’t want anybody else leading the way. I’ve got a lot of respect for a bunch of people in this league, but there’s nobody I’d rather have be the quarterback of the LA Rams than Matthew Stafford. His play speaks for itself.”

This has been the giant elephant in the room of the Rams’ season since it started. Ever since he showed up after weeks of not throwing while in a hyperbaric chamber to manage a degenerative back issue at 37 years old, only to lead a victory over an elite Houston Texans defense in Week 1, the potential has simmered for a Stafford season that has never happened before.

It would take something special to achieve, given that he was already pushing top-10 all time in every major career passing statistic, had a 5,000-yard season and multiple 40-touchdown years under his belt, and a Super Bowl ring sitting at home.

But never had Stafford had the mix of high-volume production with superb ball security and efficiency that was long the separator between players such as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of the good quarterbacks like him. To achieve it at this point in his career, with less mobility than he’s ever had and a back that couldn’t risk a vicious hit, was going to take something remarkable. Something new.

“Make it to Week 1,” Stafford said of his goals this season. “Just hoping I did that. We got there, and we just held on for dear life.”

This season, McVay and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur have thrown so much of their energy into finding ways to keep their quarterback upright and his arm as powerful and confident as it’s always been. That’s why they planned on a soft training camp for him after last season ended, even with a new star receiver to break into the offense in Davante Adams.

It led them to tinker with two-tight-end sets for the first time, then expand it to three-tight-end sets. It’s why Kyren Williams outsnapped Blake Corum so much early in the season to ensure elite blitz pickup. It’s why they re-signed Williams in the offseason and drafted Corum in 2024 to balance the offense, and why they put Rob Havenstein on injured reserve and handed the right tackle job to Warren McClendon Jr. once he proved to be the most healthy and stable pass protector.

Those protective measures, combined with the complementary strengths of Williams and Corum, the addition of Adams as a red zone cheat code and the manipulative forces of 13-personnel, have created a setting of comfort, balance and control that Stafford has never enjoyed before. And in some ways, none of this is really all that surprising to the ones who see it from the inside.

“I’ve never seen anything that is anything but great from Matthew,” Williams said. “For me to be able to see the results and the things that happen because of that work, it gives me the confidence that my work will pay off the way his is.”

But that doesn’t steal from the joy it’s become to watch. As Stafford has climbed the career passing charts — he’s now seventh all time with 420 touchdown passes and sixth all time with 64,516 passing yards — he’s also compiled the highlights, from no-look touchdowns to deep passes after a reset under pressure to big-time performances against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco on national TV.

“Stafford, I think he’s the freaking goat,” defensive end Jared Verse said. “I’ve never been around a player who can do all the things he can do. … He’s one of the best players to ever live. It’s an award that he should get.”

Stafford has to hope that his latest moment on prime time didn’t set his season-long case back more than he can overcome. That came in Atlanta, where he threw three interceptions, including a pick six, as the Rams fell 27-24 to the Falcons in Week 17 and were then eliminated from contention in the NFC West.

Not since Adrian Peterson in 2012 has an MVP represented a team that wasn’t a division champion. That will be New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s case, along with 450 rushing yards and four scores and better underlying efficiency as the NFL’s leader in completion percentage. But Maye has also thrown 15 fewer touchdowns and played in a division and schedule inherently different from those in the NFC West, which features three teams with at least 12 wins.

Entering the final week, the Rams boasted the NFL’s No. 1 strength of schedule, and the Patriots ranked 32nd. Stafford has won four games over teams with at least 11 wins, whereas Maye has defeated just one team that has a winning record, the Buffalo Bills.

Stafford closes the regular season leading the league with 46 touchdown passes and 4,707 passing yards, all while throwing just eight interceptions.

“I know there’s a lot of media hype for Drake and a lot of people pushing it, but there’s nobody who can lead a team like Matt does,” defensive end Kobie Turner said. “There’s nobody who can make those plays in the clutch moments like Matt does. … He 1,000 percent deserves it. It’s not an ‘I think.’ Drake Maye has had a really solid year as well, but no question about it, Matt deserves it.”

Whether this season brings an MVP trophy for Stafford or he falls just short, whether it manifests in a return to the Super Bowl or not, it serves a purpose beyond the production. After weeks in the hyperbaric chamber, Stafford emerged as the best version he’s ever been. His age and experience have become his weapon, not his downfall, and the joy he’s discovered with each no-look pass, play-action fake and deep shot up the sideline has restored something that he never wants to let go.

“I love playing this game,” Stafford said. “I don’t take any of these opportunities to play on a Sunday for granted. … Luckily, we have some more times to do that.”

Reaching the playoffs isn’t just an expectation for a team with the track record of this one. It’s also a way to keep the flame burning in No. 9.

.@AZCardinals @RamsNFL @AsapPuka a one handed beauty on 4th-2… bump this to Puka's growing resume' reel. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/H4DgnaZ5fX

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 5, 2026

ME: I’m resigned to the fact that injury updates can be repetitive, but sometimes you can’t avoid posting ones that come later with the same info but more nuance added

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Brock Vierra@BrockVierra
Per Sean McVay: Rams expected to play Quentin Lake and Davante Adams. Only injury questions after Cardinals game are for Jordan Whittington and Shaun Dolac but there are no updates.

Rams expect Terrance Ferguson will play.

Adam Grosbard@AdamGrosbard
Without Davante Adams, the Rams’ red zone conversion rate has dropped 20 points.

Without Quentin Lake, the Rams run defense EPA has gone from third to 20th.

Both are coming back just in time for the Rams’ playoff opener against the Panthers

Nate Atkins@NateAtkins_
The Rams still expect to get WR Davante Adams and S Quentin Lake back for Saturday’s wildcard game against the Panthers.

“We’ll see” on RG Kevin Dotson, Sean McVay said.

He’s hopeful that TE Terrance Ferguson can play after tweaking his hamstring late last week.