FIRST TAKE | “9-2 Rams show that they are team to beat in NFC” – Stephen A. on Stafford sinks Bucs

FIRST TAKE | “9-2 Rams show that they are team to beat in NFC” – Stephen A. on Stafford sinks Bucs

So, the Rams dominated the Bucks 34-7 on Sunday night to improve to an NFC best 9-2 on the season. Matthew Stafford threw three more touchdown passes in the win, extending his streak of TDs without an interception to 27, now passing Tom Brady for the longest streak since playbyplay was first tracked back in 1978. The Rams Super Bowl favorites for the first time at any point of a season since December of 2018, a season in which they reached the Super Bowl but lost to the Pats. Are the Rams the best team in the National Football League, Stephen A. Smith? Yes, they are. Um, I think they have right now a guy playing like the best quarterback in the National Football League in Matthew Stafford. The man hasn’t thrown an interception since week three. And since that time, he’s thrown 25 touchdown passes without a single interception. That’s how fantastic he’s been. Vonte Adams has a league leading 12 touchdown pouchdown catches. eight of nine targeting Devonte Adams for touchdowns this year. Um and and and eight times Devonte Adams has scored a touchdown. You looking at him right now. Are you realizing that we’re talking about the Los Angeles Rams and we’re not even we didn’t even mention Puka Naka. We know how fabulous he is. Okay, we’re talking about this defense with Verse and the crew who slaughtered Teddy Bridgewwater once he got into the game last night. I don’t even count his stats against him. He just got slaughtered. He had no protection whatsoever. I’m looking at the Los Angeles Rams right now. They can run the football. They clearly can throw the football. And Matthew Stafford is simply elite. He is spectacular. Make no mistake about it right now. If I had to give a vote for MVP right now, it would go to him. He’s been that fantastic. Their defense, top scoring defense, one of the top defense on third downs, one of the top defenses in red zone. They are fantastic right now. And they only lost the two games that they lost. The block when they was in trying to win with a field goal. the blocked field goal by the Eagles. And the other one was with Kyron Williams fumbling at the end of regulation near the goal line against San Francisco and they lost the game in overtime. That’s it. They’ve gone weeks without even trailing and they’re winning by an average of 18 plus points. It’s the best team in football and they got the best quarterback in football. And I feel like like a proud parent in a way, you know, watching watching someone that you’ve tried to uh groom and impact and uh steer the right direction. Who’s the child? That’s Stephen A. I listening to him talk. Um basically Stephen A using all those words, a lot of them by the way, to say I was wrong. Uh to mask that like is is impressive. So he stole your story line 100%. Ken, this is this is like four years in the making. Four years over,300 days. He wasn’t this way four years ago. You Yes, he was. You know what else? Uh you know the saying uh they say like old people are stuck in their ways. Obviously that’s not true. Stephen A obviously has has changed his thought process in his van. Well, I’m not old. I’m 58 going on 38. Go ahead. So you I could not have teed that up better. I knew if I said that you would respond with that. So, uh, yes, the Rams are the best team in the NFL, but my biggest takeaway is just watching Stephen A’s growth and his ability to admit when he was rough. That’s good. That’s very rich. I love to hear it. Are the Rams the best team in the NFL kid? Yes, they are. And the reason is I said this earlier and I probably misspoke, but what we’re seeing out of Matthew Stafford is the modernday version of a new and improved Brett Favre. Matthew Stafford protects the ball better. Sure. And it’s crazy how history repeats itself because I would go as far as to say this is the modern day version of the greatest show on turf when you start to see Kurt uh uh um Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Tory Hull. I give you another one. Payton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Edge, Reggie Wayne. Those guys probably I don’t think they’re as talented as what the running back position can be as versatile like those teams had. But what he’s able to do at the quarterback position, he has the absolute most control. And I’m saying this, he has more control over this offense than Patrick Mahomes or any other quarterback in the NFL right now. Let me ask you a question. First take, I’ll give you a question. What would you Who would you rather have right now? Matthew Stafford. No, no, no, no, no. Stafford, Puka, and Devonte or Dak, CD, and Pickkins control of Matthew Stafford. Stafford issues either and and it’s because Matthew Stafford and and his ability to to to throw in those tight windows and have so much. It ain’t that complicated. But go ahead. Ain’t that complicated? Ain’t that complicated? I have faith that Matthew Stafford gonna be there in January. It ain’t going to be him. It ain’t gonna be him. You understand what I’m saying? It ain’t gonna be him. That’s why. There you go. That’s why it ain’t gonna be him. That’s a Super Bowl champion right there. Even in the 12 years of purgatory in Detroit, we knew it wasn’t him. Okay. And we saw last year a team travel from Southern California to a damn blizzard in Philadelphia and it still wasn’t him. That’s why. That’s why you know who he’s got to thank to get to Detroit. You know who should be thanking who he should be thanking for getting to Detroit? You. You. Okay. We’re giving lots of people a lot. Yeah. A lot of We were winless. No. No. We We were winless. We got the number one pick. Favorite atus 185. You’re talking about the Super Bowl favorites at plus 450. Nuno, of course, has to spin it negatively because that’s his job. Are they peaking too soon is what Nuno wants to know. I can’t believe I’m even asking you guys this. Are they peaking too soon? I’m not going to say they’re peeking too soon. They’re playing good football. I still think there’s room for improvement. I still want to see more out of the Rams running game. What does Mike Tanam always say? You throw the score, you run the win. I still haven’t seen a consistent running game from the LA Rams. And I love Kron Williams as a back, but their offensive line doesn’t generate a whole lot of movement at the point of attack. When you watch their actual running game, there’s inside outside zone, but then also they rely on the jet sweeps to the receivers awful lot. I I’m just not I’m just not there yet when it comes to the Rams doing the things on the offensive side of the ball that give me confidence that they’re going to be able to finish the drill and win a championship. Yeah, they can throw with anybody. They can score a ton of points. But it’s also about being able to control the complexion of the game. It’s also being able to slow things down to shorten the game when you need to. And the most successful teams in the NFL throughout the history of the game have been teams that have optionality on the offensive side of the ball. Teams that can beat you a bunch of different ways. Teams that can throw it, but also teams that can run it. Can you win in a 13-10 game? Can you win in a 3532 game? That’s what you want to see from the LA Rams. And and I haven’t gotten enough of that throughout the course of this season. We always talk about benefit of the doubt though. Do you give this team and most importantly Shawn McVey Shawn McVey, excuse me, the benefit of the doubt that he’s going to be able to get that run game going? No, I think they are who they are when it comes to running the football. I I I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The question is, can the short passing game supplement the running game enough in order for them to be able to overcome that? Now, they’re great when it comes to being able to have different answers versus different looks in the passing game. You saw the the the Buccaneers blitz them a ton last night because that’s the only way that Tampa can generate pressure and Matt Stafford beat the Blitz through two touchdowns um in last night’s game, giving them the most touchdowns against the Blitz in a single season since Dak Prescott in 2021. So, they have answers when it comes to their passing game. My question is, are they going to be able to run the football consistently when they get to play the better teams in the tournament? Are they going to be able to ice games with a lead when they get to that spot? That’s the only thing that I’m waiting to see. But everything else, they check every single other box. The secondary has gotten a lot better. A lot of those young players are starting to come around. Emanuel Forbes failed first round draft pick with the Washington Commanders. He’s found a home with the LA Rams. Kobe Durant, shout out to South Carolina State and the MAK. He ends up having a pick six last night that really changed the tenor of the game. There are a lot of things to like with this Rams team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And then of course the connection that Matt Stafford has with those two animals of receivers in Puka Naku and Dvonte Adams. So again, I don’t want to nitpick too much, but based on what the Rams have already done, it’s time to for us to start talking about their prospects of winning a Super Bowl, not just their positioning in the NFC West. The flip side.

FIRST TAKE | “9-2 Rams show that they are team to beat in NFC” – Stephen A. on Matthew Stafford sinks Bucs in NFL Week 12