Only the Chiefs and Vikings have active NFL winning streaks longer than the red-hot Rams, who’ve won four straight entering a key NFC West home game against Arizona on Saturday. As a result, the Rams are firmly in control of their own path. And that path might be their last journey with starting quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford, who turns 37 a week before the Super Bowl, has a potential exit clause in his contract. Asked Friday whether Stafford would surely return to the Rams in 2025, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler was pessimistic.
“They have set the stage for a potential divorce,” Fowler told Kevin Clark on Friday’s edition of This is Football. “I was at Rams camp and I remember just kind of asking around and it was like, ‘You know, we want to give Matthew Stafford sort of the freedom to do what he wants. He might want to retire at the end of the year.’
“I don’t think that’s been spelled out. He’s playing too well to want to retire, I think, and it’s not like he’s 43. … He’s got years left. But the stage was set. They did something to his contract where they can both get out of it with minimal issues.”
If either party chooses to get out of it, the decision might not come for a while. That’s because the Rams (9-6) are peaking at the right time entering Saturday’s clash with the Cardinals (7-8) at SoFi Stadium (8:10 p.m. ET, NFL Network). Left for dead after opening the season 1-4, they’ve won eight of their last 10. And even though Seattle (9-7) beat Chicago on Thursday night, the Rams could clinch the division as early as Sunday with a victory and 3.5 wins (with ties counting as half a win) from a select group of teams.
The Rams also are an unstoppable force when Kyren Williams, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are supporting Stafford. In games with all four in the starting lineup, as expected on Saturday, Los Angeles is 13-5 (.722) and averages nearly 30 points per game. This season, Williams ranks third in the NFL behind Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry with 1,243 rushing yards.
“And they can score on anybody with those four,” Fowler added. “The offensive line’s good enough. The defensive front’s good enough. The secondary concerns me a little bit but I think they’ve settled that ship a little bit late in the year. So, if we’re talking sleepers, the Rams are right there.”
For more information on the Rams and Cardinals, visit the L.A. Rams and Arizona team pages at ProFootballPost.com.
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