Well, for anyone who thinks that Jared Goff is more like “Jared Goof” whenever he’s on the gridiron, you got your wish. The LA Rams are going to take their chances with Matthew Stafford (STAFF-erd) at quarterback.
But are the Rams panicking here? Why is McVay so gung-ho on bringing Stafford to town over giving the former NFC champion another chance at signal-caller? We can answer those two questions for you, as well as answering the subject matter of this video: Are the Lions going to win the Matthew Stafford blockbuster trade?
We do videos like this all the time, and you should definitely check out our previous editorial on why Matthew Stafford might be a little overrated. The link to the video is listed above and in the description. Also, make sure to subscribe below and hit that notification bell.
Anyway, back to the trade. It’s obvious why the Lions are so interested in making this deal. They 1) Get to move on from Stafford, a quarterback who went 0-and-3 in the playoffs 2) Get to take a flier on a QB who was one win away from winning the Super Bowl back in 2019 and 3) Get three draft picks in the deal.
To me, it just seems like the Rams are panicking. They feel like their championship window is barely alive, so they want to bring in a Pro Bowler who can run McVay’s offense better. Is Stafford more qualified than Goff? In my opinion….no, he’s not. I don’t know why people forget this, but Stafford’s offense only scored 6 total points during a 26-to-6 playoff debacle defeat to the former Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks. Legion Boom defense or not that day, Stafford’s somewhat embarrassing performance doesn’t exactly instill confidence in a Los Angeles fanbase who saw Jared Goff win 3 playoff games during his tenure in L.A.
Not everything can be blamed on Stafford during his time in Detroit. The Lions are a franchise that’s well known for ill-equipping their star quarterbacks with notable offensive line talent and the right coaching personnel. Still, Stafford had Megatron to throw to in Detroit, so it’s not as though Stafford always had to do it by himself. Wins and losses shouldn’t always be credited to or blamed on the starting quarterback, but OH-and-3 is pretty piss poor when you consider that Goff is 3-and-3 all-time in the playoffs.
Not only that, but according to Pro Football Focus, in the 10 seasons where Stafford has logged at least 300 dropbacks, he’s only been ranked as a Top 10 passer in three of those aforementioned seasons. So, when it comes to the analytics, Stafford is basically a mediocre-to-above mediocre quarterback about 70% of the time. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the Rams when they already had a guy in Goff who played on Super Bowl Sunday.
If I’m Jared Goff, I wouldn’t feel too bad about the trade. I actually thought it was very courageous of him to suck it up and play two weeks after breaking his right thumb. You can say that McVay benched Goff in favor of John Wolford for the Wild Card playoff game against Seattle, but that’s just hogwash in my opinion. If Goff broke his non-throwing thumb, he definitely would’ve started against the Seahawks. It’s as simple as that.
Goff was in serious pain that day. Remember: He only attempted 19 passes in relief work of Wolford. He broke the thumb on his throwing hand two weeks prior, but he still had enough moxy and determination to complete 9 of those 19 passes and help lead the Rams to a postseason win. And yet the Rams would rather have a perennial playoff loser over a proven postseason winner? Good luck, I guess.
Stafford’s 282 career touchdown passes and 144 interceptions prove that he’s a decent NFL starting QB, but if you’re giving up on Goff, you kind of need a surefire ace in the hole. And Stafford’s track record would say he basically crumbles in big games. That’s not always the case for Stafford, but here’s something eye-opening for you. Remember that 26-to-6 playoff disaster? The Lions actually had to go on the road to Seattle because they dumped their last three in the toilet to finish the regular season at 9-and-7. Not only that, but the Lions also lost to the Packers on the last day of the season to ensure the Pack would be crowned NFC North champions and not the Lions.
Remember Jim Caldwell’s last season in Detroit? The Lions were 6-and-4 and 8-and-6 that season. But when the Lions needed to win a big game, Stafford just couldn’t get it done. His most underwhelming performance was during Week 12 against the Ravens: A 44-to-20 beatdown by Baltimore saw the Lions fall to 6-5 on the season. When the Lions were 8-and-6, Stafford’s Lions lost to a bad Cincinnati team in Week 16 to completely fall out of postseason contention.
You can be critical of Jared Goff all you want, but when the Rams have needed Goff to get into the playoffs, he’s basically performed well under pressure. Super Bowl 52 was a game that he’d love to forget, but the Lions have seen the potential of Goff. Will Goff flounder now that Sean McVay isn’t his play caller? It’s too soon to make that declaration, but there are legitimate concerns that Goff isn’t great at reading defenses and audibling at the line of scrimmage.
But the real story of the trade are the draft picks. The Lions are in no position to compete for a Super Bowl right now, so if you’re going to take a flier on a QB, you might as well also get two first-round picks and a third rounder. I still don’t know why the Rams are so concerned with Goff’s future that they’d be willing to bail on draft capital in order to obtain Stafford’s services.
For the LA Rams, good luck. And for the Lions, perhaps Goff is a tad bit underrated. He’s still vastly overpaid, but three playoff wins are impressive considering how young that he is. If the Rams don’t at least make the NFC Championship Game next season, the blockbuster trade could begin to look like a huge mistake. Can you imagine a scenario where Stafford’s Rams miss the playoffs in 2022 and the Lions somehow make it? That would be a nightmarish scenario for Rams fans to have to endure.
Goff is much younger than Stafford, so there is plenty of time (at least a season anyway) to see what the former No. 1 overall pick can do when he doesn’t have to deal with the Los Angeles press and paparazzi. Although Goff definitely showed signs of weakness in 2020 when defenses disguised their coverages, he still has impressive career passing numbers. As such, I think this trade is great for Detroit and just okay for Los Angeles. Since the Rams have a lot more talent at wide receiver and tight end than the Lions, it’s conceivable that Stafford will easily succeed in Los Angeles. But it’s definitely a minor gamble on the Rams’ part.
So why would the Rams want to make the trade in the first place? They probably just don’t think that Goff can progress as a QB. A really interesting statistic from Pro Football Focus says Goff was last during the 2019 regular season when it came to throwing past his first progression. This just means that when things aren’t perfect for Goff, he can force the ball into tight windows or not make the right read. The Rams aren’t wrong in making this assumption, but they also just extended his contract just two years ago. It’s kind of mind boggling that they would give up on him this fast, plus the fact that they had to give up three future draft picks just to dump his contract onto Detroit’s salary cap situation.
Then again, Stafford ranked 11 spots better than Goff on the Pro Football Focus overall QB grading scale. His 2020 numbers saw Stafford finish 8th among 32 qualified quarterbacks in big-time throws and third overall in average depth of target.
To sum up, there’s no easy answer to say who will win the trade. But in my eyes, Goff can still play. And Stafford, while his numbers are great, has never really gotten it done when it’s mattered the most.
But what do you think? Will Detroit end up winning the Stafford-for-Goff blockbuster trade? Make sure to comment below and subscribe to Sports Broadcast Solutions.
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