Stafford proved he is worth the price he was bought for

We have seen countless instances where talented quarterbacks come to a rebuilding franchise, the results don’t pan out, the confidence is lost and the career ends in disappointment.

Matthew Stafford has always had an armful of swagger. When he was at the University of Georgia, you could already tell we were talking about a special arm, which is why he was selected by the Detroit Lions with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft.

He came into a dysfunctional environment in Detroit and it always gave the feeling that the lack of collective success didn’t go hand-in-hand with individual quarterback talent.

Stafford played injured constantly in Detroit, everyone claimed he was a great teammate, he never publicly complained about the franchise and he can throw every pass in the book, but did we overestimate him?

In 2014, the Lions had two top receivers in Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate and their defense was among the best in the NFL that year, led by a Ndamukong Suh who was in his prime.

In the playoffs they came up short against the Dallas Cowboys in a game of very controversial calls, but I was at the stadium first hand that day, and the Lions offense went cold at the most critical moments.

Too many times, Stafford has had interceptions returned for touchdowns at critical times. In fact, Stafford totals 27 interceptions that have been returned for touchdowns in his entire career, which puts him fourth all-time in a ranking you don’t want to lead.

In other words, Stafford had his share of responsibility for the Lions, but wins are not an individual statistic.

However, in America, they are enamored with labels, and as a result of never winning a division with the Lions, and not winning a single playoff game in his time in Detroit (0-3), he was labeled as a “quarterback who doesn’t win big games”.

In my opinion it was unfair, but there was no way to prove it. Until now.

Rams coach Sean McVay stumbled upon Stafford while on vacation in Los Cabos and it was at that point that he decided to go all in to secure his services this offseason. Two first-round picks, a third-round pick and Jared Goff was the price the Los Angeles Rams paid.

McVay didn’t care about those labels, because he knew that Stafford’s mere presence opened up the range of possibilities in the playbook. With Jared Goff he had reached a Super Bowl, and with Stafford, he thought, he could win it.

Now, they are one game away from achieving their goal, but the road was not as smooth as many expected.

Right off the bat, Stafford showed off his wonderful arm. On the first day of action, he ran to his left side, and threw a bomb to the opposite side that flew 60 yards in the air and found Van Jefferson for a 67-yard touchdown.

Aaron Donald had his mouth open, and right away they knew they had a special quarterback.

And maybe that kind of play by Stafford clouded the Rams, and gave them an identity crisis.

Los Angeles, under McVay, has always been a team with a lot of pre-snap movement, emphasizing the ground attack and then shining in play-action.

With Stafford they initially seemed to morph into a team that primarily attacked from the pocket, and with injuries to Cam Akers and then Robert Woods, that equation became more complicated as the weeks went on.

In fact from Week 9 through the end of the regular season, Stafford threw 11 interceptions (he had 17 on the season) and four of those were returned for touchdowns.

Still, the Rams qualified for the playoffs, and on paper were perhaps the most complete team in the league.

Their only doubt lay in Stafford’s ability to show up in full force at important moments.

The Rams had him throw just 17 passes in the Wild Card Round against the Cardinals, a game in which they recorded 38 carries, and Stafford was efficient and led Los Angeles to victory.

The following week when the ship seemed to be sinking against the Buccaneers, it was Stafford who showed up with a steady pulse to connect with his favorite target Cooper Kupp and put the Rams in scoring position.

As if that wasn’t enough, down 10 points early in the fourth quarter against their nemesis, the San Francisco 49ers, Stafford’s pulse never wavered and he led the Rams to 13 points in those final 15 minutes to make Los Angeles just the second consecutive team to play in a Super Bowl at home.

“I get a chuckle out of those who thought Stafford wasn’t a winner,” defensive wing Leonard Floyd said. “I’d say he put the critics to bed.”

Whatever happens in the Super Bowl, Stafford has already proven to be worth the high price the Rams paid for him.

I understand that if the Rams don’t come out victorious on Sunday, there will be those who will say that Goff and Stafford got to the same stage, but they would assume, they haven’t seen the different influence of the two.

These Rams, at times, win because of Stafford. The former Rams, many times, won in spite of Goff.

The NFL has always been a team sport, where the most complete outfits win championships.

Talent is sometimes not enough, and Stafford is the clear demonstration that it is very difficult to win in a dysfunctional environment.

You are only as good as the team you have around you, and Stafford has been worth every penny they paid for him.