Matthew Stafford continues to layer on his MVP case, but as good as the Rams have proven to be so far, there’s still a long way to go before the Super Bowl.
A crescendo is building, and the Rams might be best to ignore it.
So much can happen from week to week in the NFL — check out Philadelphia’s loss to Dallas — that the Rams can’t get too comfortable, even with the way they’re playing.
In the last five games, culminating with their 27-point stomping of Tampa Bay on Sunday night, the Rams have outscored opponents in the opening quarter, 63-3.
Matthew Stafford has thrown 27 touchdown passes without an interception.
In four of the games in this six-game winning streak, the Rams defense has allowed 10 points or fewer.
But it’s uncomfortably early for anyone in the organization to be thinking about Santa Clara in February. The Rams need to play with blinders on. Yes, they’ve secured the NFC’s No. 1 seed for the moment, but they have a one-game lead over the Eagles, who beat them earlier this season and therefore have the tie-breaker. There’s no wiggle room.
The glide path is far different than 2021, when the Rams wound up winning the Super Bowl on their home field. That season, they went 0-3 in November games.
This bears a closer resemblance to 2018, Sean McVay’s second season, when the last game before Thanksgiving was an instant classic at the Coliseum, Jared Goff and the Rams beating Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, 54-51.
There’s no ignoring that we’re watching something special in Stafford, who takes the snap, scans the field and delivers a laser with remarkable reliability.
