Matthew Stafford: This win was a long time coming…

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When quarterback Matthew Stafford was traded to the Rams last year, he’d never won a playoff game and he faced questions about whether he was just a player who put up big numbers for teams that weren’t serious title contenders.

The book on Stafford reads a lot differently now that his first season with the team is in the books. Stafford threw a touchdown to Cooper Kupp with 1:25 left to play in Super Bowl LVI and became a Super Bowl winner when the Rams defense stopped the Bengals’ final drive well short of the end zone.

After the game, Stafford was asked about the impact of the win on his legacy, but he deflected the attention from himself to teammates like Andrew Whitworth, Aaron Donald, and Eric Weddle who have also been trying for a championship for many years.

“Long time coming for a lot of guys. So many guys deserve this. So happy to get it done for those guys,” Stafford said.

The Rams had a hard time moving the ball after wide receiver Odell Beckham left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter, but they drove 72 yards for the game-winning score. Stafford said it featured “so many great plays by so many great players” and his six completions for 57 yards were right in the middle of it.

That performance was why the Rams moved to bring Stafford to Los Angeles and it is one that answered the last remaining questions about Stafford’s ability to get the job done in a big spot.