The 2023 campaign was an incalculably positive one for the Los Angeles Rams. After losing the entire 2022 season with injuries to Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald, the team opted to part some of their more valuable players as a means of resetting their salary in pursuit of Super Bowl contention for the 2024 season.
But that’s when Stafford and the Rams’ three-headed monster locked in. Stafford tossed for 3,965 yards with 24 touchdowns in 15 games, helping to lead the Rams to a surprising postseason berth.
Many considered the Rams among the worst teams in football when the season began, yet they finished one score away from winning a playoff game against a Detroit Lions team that ultimately went to the NFC Championship Game. That’s in large part due to Stafford’s leadership and ability to fight through any adversity.
Stafford and the Rams are capitalizing on this moment by releasing a documentary that covers his time with the Rams thus far, but putting a specific emphasis on the 2023 season and how he responded to a slow start and an injury, via The Rams on X:
Thirty-two starting quarterbacks.
Only one Matthew Stafford.🎥 ‘Locked In’ premieres April 18th. pic.twitter.com/HiR96YRxqj
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) March 11, 2024
The trailer for the documentary, which premieres April 18 at 5:00 p.m. PT on NFL Network, tells a compelling story of the way Stafford works tirelessly in every facet of his life. It takes a peek into his time as a father and how he’s able to put aside his career to focus on his family between all the chaos of being an NFL quarterback.
It also shows the amount of preparation he puts in to each and every game, as well as the utmost respect that his top two wide receivers — Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua — have for him. It ends with Stafford sharing his ultimate goal of donning the Hall of Fame gold jacket, and knowing that in order to achieve that, it starts with winning Super Bowls today.
This figures to be a fascinating watch for Rams fans and fans of football in general.
Rams prioritizing backup QB to Matthew Stafford in free agency
Perhaps the Rams only scary moment in 2023 was when Stafford suffered an injury that caused him to miss a game right when the team was establishing their rhythm. The Rams turned to backup Brett Rypien and suffered a dismal loss to the Green Bay Packers, forcing the Rams to change their backup and go with former No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz.
Because of how that went in 2023, Snead is looking ahead at possible injuries to Stafford and deciding if spending some of their cap space on a veteran backup is worthwhile.
