After picking up his first couple playoff wins, Matthew Stafford now faces a golden opportunity to get to his first Super Bowl as he leads the Los Angeles Rams into battle against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
Stafford was brilliant in the NFC Divisional Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading the game-winning drive to set up another matchup with their NFC West rivals. Now, however, he will try to overcome a team that has has their number the past several years.
While the challenge of the 49ers looms large, Stafford said he is looking forward to trying to earn a win, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“Obviously excited about the opportunity,” Stafford said during a video conference Wednesday. “Going about it kind of as a normal week. It’s the first normal week we’ve had a little bit, obviously, playing the first playoff game on a Monday, the second one on a short week. So this one just feels like a normal week during the season, obviously a lot at stake. We know that. Playing a really good opponent that’s playing as good of football as anybody in the NFL right now. So it’ll be a big challenge for us, but we’re excited about the opportunity.”
The key to the matchup lies in the trenches as San Francisco’s defensive line has given Stafford problems in the past two contests. The signal caller emphasized that he and the Rams will need to capitalize on the explosive plays when they present themselves:
“There aren’t a ton of varied looks,” Stafford said. “They do a great job stunting their defensive line and moving guys after the snap. But as far as what you see as the quarterback before the snap, there are some intricacies, but a lot of it is pretty straightforward. They are going to let their guys go out there and play fast. That’s their M-O. Their guys attack up front. They attack on the back end. (They) do a great job against the run and have done a great job this season keeping the pass game in front of them as well. So it’s about execution for us, guys doing the right thing play in and play out, and when we’re getting the opportunities to hit big plays, we have to hit them.”
The 49ers have done well to get to this point, and it is fitting they are the final roadblock to the Rams’ path to Super Bowl LVI. Stafford and Los Angeles have been playing great but need to be at the top of their games come Sunday.
Stafford was brought in for this specific situation, getting the Rams over the hump, so it will be up to him and his teammates to make it happen against a tough opponent.
