Turf Show Times
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off a career year and is the reigning MVP. Yet Pro Football Focus rated him only the fifth-best starter heading into the 2026 season, suggesting he continues to be disrespected by the media to some degree.
PFF’s Dalton Wasserman and Max Chadwick’s rankings of the NFL’s 32 starters are based on PFF passing grade, Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and EPA per dropback from the last three seasons. Stafford was placed behind Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, despite leading the league with a 91.7 PFF passing grade and 4.49 Wins Above Replacement. He was also the NFC’s highest-ranked QB, ahead of Jordan Love at No. 6.
One of the main reasons for his lower-than-expected ranking had to do with the team around him. Yep, you read that right:
“That said, the 2025 MVP enters 2026 in one of the NFL’s most favorable situations. Rams head coach Sean McVay remains one of football’s premier offensive minds, and the Rams’ dominant rushing attack consistently forces defenses to respect the run, creating favorable passing opportunities. Stafford has also had the luxury of throwing to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, giving him one of the league’s best wide receiver duos.”
So, now we’re punishing a player for their success because they’re in a favorable situation? Are we serious? When Stafford was unable to win a playoff game during his 12 years in Detroit, the discourse around him was that he couldn’t win the big one. That was despite not having the team infrastructure to ever advance past the Wild Card Round. Now that he’s in a better spot, it’s mostly the situation around him that’s allowing him to play well. Make it make sense, and quit moving those damn goalposts!
Plus, while Puka Nacua is currently recognized as one of the NFL’s best receivers, that wasn’t always the case. He had to grow into that role with a quarterback willing to give him plenty of opportunities.
Stafford has done exactly that, as the BYU product is the fourth-most targeted wideout since 2023 with 432 targets. That is behind Ja’Marr Chase (505), Amon-Ra St. Brown (477) and CeeDee Lamb (450). He also ranks third in receptions in that span with 313, with Chase (352) and Brown (351) just ahead of him, and he has the second-most receiving yards behind Chase. Nacua made sure to give Stafford his flowers after the veteran won MVP.
See, PFF, game recognizes game. I suppose by their faulty logic, we’ll blame Stafford for trading for Myles Garrett, too, right? Curse you Matthew, how dare you try to maximize what’s left of your career! What’s wrong with you?!
Then, PFF chimed in on interception variance, which is as dorky as you’d expect:
“Stafford threw just nine interceptions in 2025 despite 21 turnover-worthy throws, with opposing defenders dropping nine potential interceptions (seven of them on genuine turnover-worthy throws). That wasn’t a one-year anomaly, either. His 2024 and 2025 campaigns...
