When the Los Angeles Rams paid a premium to acquire Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions last year, it was with an eye on winning a Super Bowl.
The 33-year-old had his ups and downs in the regular season, tying a career-high with 41 touchdowns but also leading the league with 17 interceptions. He has played much better in the playoffs and now has the team on the verge of accomplishing its goal.
With a win against the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Rams will capture just their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history and first in L.A. Their only title came in 2000 when the St. Louis-based “Greatest Show on Turf” defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Stafford knows how important the Rams’ Super Bowl matchup against the Bengals is but revealed he will treat it like any other game he has ever played in, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I think you treat fit just like every other game when it gets to that day,” Stafford said during a video conference with reporters Thursday. “You got a job, you got a job to go out there and execute and try and lead your team to help us win. Once the is ball snapped, I mean, it’s going to be football. Settle into the game as quickly as you possibly can, trust your eyes, trust your teammates and go play. I think that part of it, once the ball is snapped, is hopefully going to be the part that’s the easiest to just eliminate all distractions and go out and play.”
Despite taking a cautious approach, Stafford did not downplay his excitement for the game and is focused on delivering a Super Bowl title to L.A.:
“I’m not immune to knowing there’s a bunch of people excited about this game,” Stafford said. “I’m excited about this game. We should be. We worked a lot of years and a lot of time to get to where we are. I’m enjoying that, but at the same time, I’m just focused on doing whatever we can to try and help beat the Bengals.”
A win against the Bengals — while monumental for the Rams — would be equally important for Stafford’s legacy after spending 12 seasons with the Lions, making the postseason only three times and winning zero games.
Stafford has already led L.A. to a 3-0 record in this year’s playoffs and now looks to close the book on what has been a storybook season with one more victory against the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
