Stafford leads LA Rams past Bears 34-14
INGLEWOOD » Matthew Stafford’s second pass for the Los Angeles Rams traveled 53 majestic yards through the air and dropped right into the hands of Van Jefferson, who fell down untouched, stood up and scored.
The Rams have bet their future on Stafford being the key to turning a good team into a great one.
With a dynamic debut against Chicago, Stafford immediately showed the potential the Rams might have unlocked.
Stafford passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns in one of the most prolific quarterback debuts with a new team in NFL history, leading the Rams past Andy Dalton and the Bears for a 34-14 victory on Sunday night.
Stafford found Jefferson for a 67yard touchdown on his second pass for the Rams, who swung a blockbuster offseason trade to acquire the 13-year veteran from Detroit. Stafford then hit a wide-open Cooper Kupp for a 56-yard TD to open the third quarter, and he found Robert Woods for a clinching score with 3:17 to play.
The first regular season crowd at SoFi Stadium roared throughout the night for Stafford, who immediately looked comfortable in his new home.
“I’ve done everything I can to work as hard as I can and get myself in this team, and they’ve wrapped their arms around me,” Stafford said. “It felt good to go out there and play with them tonight. Such incredible players on this team. I’m lucky to be a part of it. I want to do everything I can to try and lead this team where it wants to go.”
With Stafford in place of Jared Goff, the Rams again resembled the offensive powerhouse of their first two seasons under coach Sean McVay, who improved to 5-0 in season openers. The Rams scored on six of Stafford’s first seven full drives while racking up 375 yards of offense.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Stafford became the first player with two touchdown passes of more than 50 yards in his debut for a new team since Lee Grosscup did it for the AFL’s New York Titans in 1962. Stafford’s 156.1 passer rating is the highest in NFL history for a quarterback who had at least 20 pass attempts in a debut with a new team, according to NFL Research.
“His command, his swag, everything was great,” said All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who had nine tackles. “That’s like a debut that probably should go down in history, just the way he played, his swag. I’m not all into the stats all the time, but his stats was probably crazy, too. I mean, that was just a debut that was nice.”
Dalton passed for 206 yards in his Bears debut, and rookie quarterback Justin Fields rushed for a 3-yard score while getting a handful of snaps in his NFL debut. Chicago moved the ball steadily all night, but David Long Jr. intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone on the Bears’ opening drive, leaving them playing from behind all night.