Matthew Stafford

Week 10 vs. Arizona Cardinals

Heading into Week 10, it seems that time is running out on Matthew Stafford to turn around his season. Stafford is coming off his worst passing performance of the year as he only completed 13 passes for 165 yards on 27 attempts. This isn’t all on Stafford as the offensive line has struggled for most of the year as they have dealt with injuries across the board. The issue moving forward for Stafford is that help isn’t on the way as key starters on the offensive line are not expected to return anytime soon.

This week is a rematch of the Week 3 contest vs. the Arizona Cardinals. In that game, Stafford threw for 249 yards and zero touchdowns. Not much has changed for the Rams since that time. Stafford is still struggling, the offensive line is still banged up, and outside of Van Jefferson returning the offense hasn’t made any progress overall. Finally, Stafford has been put into concussion protocol this week and is in danger of missing this contest. Even if Stafford plays it is probably best to fade him once again for Week 10.

Week 8 vs. San Francisco 49ers

Coming out of the bye Matthew Stafford looks to jump-start this pass offense that looked flat to start the season. Through the first six games of the year, Stafford has only thrown multiple touchdowns in one game. That game came all the way back in Week 2 vs. the Atlanta Falcons. Since that week, Stafford has failed to throw a touchdown in two of the four games. Hopefully, the bye week has allowed Stafford to build some chemistry with Allen Robinson, but the biggest development could be the return of Van Jefferson. Jefferson and his 4.39 speed will add a much-needed vertical element to this offense, and open things up for players like Cooper Kupp and Robinson underneath.

In Week 8 Stafford will get another tough matchup as he faces a stout 49ers defense. In 2021, Stafford was solid vs. the 49ers throwing for on average 272 yards and two TDs in three games. However, that was when this offense was humming. Now with the offense struggling Stafford failed to throw a touchdown on just 254 passing yards back in Week 4. Based on Stafford’s early season struggles, it might be best to keep him on benches until he proves he can put up good numbers vs tough opponents in 2022.

Week 5 vs. Dallas Cowboys

Matthew Stafford has struggled mightily this season as he currently sits as the QB27 heading into Week 5. A lot of this has to do with the lack of explosive plays. Currently, the Rams are one of only three teams this season that doesn’t have a 40+ yard pass play. This has led to a lot of Stafford’s production coming underneath to Tyler Higbee and Cooper Kupp. Now before we completely jump ship, we should point out that the schedule hasn’t been favorable for Stafford. So far this season he has faced two of the top three defenses (Bills and 49ers) in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks this season. Stafford did find success vs. the Falcons throwing for 272 yards and three TDs while he wasn’t asked too much vs. the Cardinals only throwing 25 times in an ugly win vs. the Cardinals.

This week the Rams do face another tough test as they take on the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys have an elite pass rush that has generated the third most sacks in the NFL through Week 5. This has led them to allow the fifth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks in 2022. We do believe Stafford will turn things around at some point, but this week he’s best left on benches.