GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Los Angeles Rams offense took the field after a sudden change, and Matthew Stafford wanted to go for the dagger. And who, exactly, was going to tell him no?

And so, on a day full of 13 personnel and running the game clock down, the 17-year quarterback did exactly that. With a three-touchdown lead in the third quarter, he lined up in shotgun with three wide receivers. Like the days in Detroit when he’d look for Calvin Johnson somewhere near the end zone, he dropped back, flipped his head left to Puka Nacua, saw his receiver gain separation down the sideline and heaved the ball.

At the 3-yard line, Nacua leapt over the outstretched arms of Arizona Cardinals second-round cornerback Will Johnson until the brown leather met his two white gloves. When he landed at the 2, he simply hopped backward and moonwalked in for the touchdown.

Stafford’s third and final touchdown pass of a 45-17 thrashing of the Cardinals was another highlight for his Pro Bowl receiver. But the response at State Farm Stadium was about the man who lofted the pass.

“M-V-P! M-V-P!” the crowd bellowed.

It’s the first time this season those chants have filled a road stadium. They came in a rival’s home, where a name that is familiar to this Rams franchise is etched in white font above the north end zone: Kurt Warner.

And Stafford was the general for a day that brought some flashbacks to that man and a time that once felt unrepeatable.

In addition to the 45 points, the Rams piled up 530 yards on the Cardinals. They had three rushing touchdowns and three passing scores for the first time since 2001, or the days when Warner and the “Greatest Show on Turf” ran roughshod over defenses to help baptize a sport into what is now known as a passing league.

The Rams are the closest they’ve ever been to those “Greatest Show on Turf” days. It’s how they can have performances like Nacua’s on Sunday — seven catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns — that fall under the radar of something bigger taking place.

It’s how those MVP chants can carry from the stands of a rival’s stadium into the visiting locker room, each syllable so clear and forceful that they can penetrate a steel door and spill into the hallway.

“It’s fun,” Stafford said. “I have great teammates. The only reason anyone’s saying something like that about me is because of all of those guys in there.”

Perhaps everyone needed a reminder. Perhaps they should have never forgotten in the first place. But after the Rams’ six-game win streak ended with a thud in the rain last week against the Carolina Panthers, a rare level of scrutiny tightened on Stafford and the three turnovers he committed, including a pick six and a game-sealing strip-sack.

The Rams still put up 28 points and had 379 yards of offense that day. But they didn’t win, and those turnovers stood out like a thorn in a season that had felt like a renaissance for this 37-year-old quarterback and an offense that’s unlike any he’s had in his career.

So, Sunday was the reminder. It was a bounce-back for all the methods that sparked that winning streak, putting the Rams back in control of the No. 1 seed in the NFC at 10-3 with four games remaining.

“The continued response is something we preach every week in the process. There’s no better example than No. 9 with his ability to come in and reset and get everyone refocused,” Nacua said. “That’s our guy, No. 9. Without him, we wouldn’t be operating the way we do.”

As the season progresses and the accolades stack up, it’s easy to see Stafford and Warner in a similar light. They are the two quarterbacks to lead this franchise to Super Bowl victories. Both found new life and made Super Bowl appearances with different franchises than the ones where their NFL careers began. And both found ways to play some of their best football in their later years.

But the comparison stretches to the machines the two quarterbacks have operated with the Rams. Warner’s included Hall of Famers like Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace and Isaac Bruce, and a Hall of Fame semifinalist in Torry Holt. When it all came together in 1999, it created a nickname never meant to be shared.

These Rams aren’t there quite yet. But they are showing just enough similarities to understand how Stafford is doing thisw eek in and week out with a degenerative back issue.

Stafford has played with a superstar receiver for most of his career, from Calvin Johnson to Cooper Kupp, but now he has two in Nacua and Davante Adams. Nacua’s performance on Sunday pushed him to 1,186 receiving yards, on pace for a second 1,400-yard season in his first three years. Adams, who leads the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions, has been doing this forever in other places as a three-time first-team All-Pro.

An Adams touchdown was the only ingredient missing on Sunday. The Rams tried, dialing up two red zone routes for him on the opening possession, but he couldn’t quite get his feet in on the first, and Stafford airmailed him on a wide-open fade route on the second.

“We should have had a fifth (touchdown),” Stafford said. “I should have hit ‘Tae’ on that fade, too. I want that one back. He crushed him.”

What Stafford has never had in 17 years is a running game this lethal. He once went four calendar years in Detroit without a 100-yard rusher in a game.

Contrast that with what happened Sunday, when Blake Corum ripped off his first 100-yard performance in the NFL that was only a piece of the pie. In addition to Corum’s 128 yards, Kyren Williams added 84 more, and even third-stringer Ronnie Rivers contributed 41 as the Rams ran out the clock with Stafford on the sideline for most of the fourth quarter. They finished with 249 rushing yards on 6.9 yards per carry, punctuated by Corum’s 48-yard house call for the final touchdown.

Blake Corum rumbles 48 yards for the TD!

LARvsAZ on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/aroS7jo0iI

— NFL (@NFL) December 7, 2025

It was the Rams’ best rushing performance of the season and a continuation of what’s been happening for weeks. Over the past two games, the Rams have averaged 201 rushing yards on just over seven yards per carry. On the season, Williams has 952 yards on 4.9 yards per carry, and Corum has 550 yards on 5.4 per carry.

“When he has that run game for him to have a breath before he throws it, it just opens up so much for him,” right guard Kevin Dotson said of Stafford. “It makes him that much better.”

Neither running back is going to be mistaken for Faulk, one of the most versatile backs ever to play. But the combination has become special, from Williams’ wear-down running style and elite pass protection to Corum’s explosive capabilities.

“It’s the same way that I feel about Stafford: If we give them a hole, they’ll find it,” Dotson said. “They’re just masters of their craft of getting to the hole and getting through it. They’re hard runners. They come in it with it on their mind — before the game, middle of the game, I think they’re probably still talking about it right now.”

None of the offensive line group of Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Dotson or Warren McClendon Jr. belongs in a conversation with an all-time great like Pace. But after three straight starts together with McClendon at right tackle, they look to be among the best of Stafford’s career. In addition to the 249 rushing yards on Sunday, Stafford dropped back 31 times and took zero sacks and just two hits.

The Rams postgame video after a 45-17 thrashing of the Cardinals.

The Matthew Stafford talk is one thing. But just how much of a juggernaut has this offense become? pic.twitter.com/pREz6WiG8k

— Nate Atkins (@NateAtkins_) December 8, 2025

Then there’s Sean McVay. Sometimes, it’s natural to compare him to Mike Martz given his penchant to dial up throws when his team is running so well. But McVay also possesses a rare connection with Stafford that can rise above the circumstances, in this case when the coach skipped a meeting and a walk-through and traveled to the game separate from the team as he battled the flu over the weekend.

That version of McVay then deployed three-tight end sets on a season-high 40 plays, giving Stafford the personnel mismatches to exploit.

“They run small people,” Stafford said of the Cardinals’ defense, “and we run 13 (personnel).”

The Rams need the offense to be this potent given what’s happening in the secondary. The defense has regressed since losing a star safety Quentin Lake, whose ability to rotate from nickel cornerback to strong safety to free safety is simply not replaceable.

On Sunday, that meant the Cardinals could play without top receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. or starting quarterback Kyler Murray and still get 11 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns from Michael Wilson.

A week ago, the same secondary couldn’t recover once the lead disappeared on a Stafford pick six. But when the offense puts up 30 points, the sacks and turnovers eventually come, as they did with Nate Landman’s interception that set up Stafford’s dagger touchdown to Nacua.

The pressure is on the Rams in an NFC West where they are tied with the Seattle Seahawks at 10-3. The stakes of winning could be the difference between owning the No. 1 seed and going on the road in the wild-card round.

But their confidence has always been high because, on one side of the ball, they know they’re playing with a loaded deck.