In his 17th season, Matthew Stafford is finally in an MVP race with a superb start for the Rams

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ever since Matthew Stafford raised the Lombardi Trophy for the Los Angeles Rams four seasons ago, the veteran quarterback has carried himself as a person with nothing to prove.

Sure, Stafford is still a highly competitive athlete who welcomes football's weekly grind, treasuring locker-room camaraderie and eagerly attacking the new defensive puzzle to be solved each Sunday.

But over the course of 17 NFL seasons, Stafford has developed a relaxed demeanor in stressful moments that can stun new teammates such as Davante Adams.

“He’s just the chillest dude,” the Rams receiver said. “His whole personality, the way he walks around, the way that he carries himself within a football game, it’s different, but it’s awesome. ... When I see that sometimes, it reminds me to chill out and take a deep breath and move on to the next play.”

Stafford also expresses a pointed disdain for praise, deflecting it in a manner that doesn't seem like false modesty, but a detemination to highlight his teammates and coaches.

It's becoming increasingly clear Stafford can't avoid the spotlight this fall, however — not if he continues to play as superbly as he did before the bye week for the surging Rams (5-2).

Stafford is healthy, content with his contract and masterfully running an offense that ranks among the best groups of his career. He knows Sean McVay’s playbook inside-out, and he has forged a bond with Adams while maintaining his formidable connection to Puka Nacua.

Perhaps because of all this familiarity, Stafford is in an unfamiliar place.

For the very first time, this 37-year-old quarterback is in the thick of the NFL MVP race.

The ninth-leading passer in league history has finished in the top 10 in MVP votes just once in his career — in 2023, when he came in eighth. Stafford's 394 touchdown passes are also the ninth-most in NFL history, yet he has been selected for the Pro Bowl just twice.

After throwing five TD passes during the Rams' 35-7 thrashing of the Jaguars in London even without the injured Nacua, Stafford entered Los Angeles' bye leading the NFL with 17 TD passes — just three fewer than he had in the entire 2024 season — against only two interceptions.

His 1,866 yards passing are third in the league, while his 109.3 passer rating is also third among QBs who have played the whole season — and it's on track to be the best rating of his entire career.

Vitally for an MVP candidate, Stafford is making big plays for a winning team.

The Rams appear to be a title contender on both sides of the ball, and only an embarrassing overtime flop against depleted San Francisco — a loss that happened despite Stafford's 389-yard, three-TD performance — kept them from holding the NFC's best record outright at their break.

“I don’t care about stats,” McVay said. “I care about the efficiency, snap in and snap out. We want to be able to move the ball and score points, and I think he’s done an excellent job of putting us in good positions. I think he’s recognizing coverage, reading with his feet. I think he’s throwing the ball with accuracy and anticipation. He’s playing the way that we believe he’s capable of.”

The biggest reason for Stafford's surprising lack of career accolades is that the Detroit Lions were often terrible during his first 12 NFL seasons, never winning a playoff game despite the best efforts of Stafford and Calvin Johnson.

Stafford has been posting prolific numbers since his third NFL season in 2011, but he didn’t have the setting to truly shine until he moved to Los Angeles a decade later. McVay believed Stafford had a singular talent, and they’ve spent the past five years demonstrating he’s correct.

“I think anyone that’s in our business, that really watches this, you’ve always appreciated Matthew Stafford,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “I’m very fortunate to hang with him every single day and see what kind of cool dude he is off the field, on top of all the unbelievable stuff he does when he’s on the field."

The back injury that sidelined Stafford for the first 3 1/2 weeks of training camp hasn't been a problem this fall, but he says he hasn't decided how much longer he'll put himself through this punishing job after renegotiating his contract in the past two offseasons.

Playing elite football for a Super Bowl contender is all that concerns Stafford at the moment. If he keeps it up, a top spot in the MVP balloting would also boost his Hall of Fame candidacy — and don’t forget, Stafford has a Super Bowl ring, while recent MVPs Lamar Jackson, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton do not.

“I never take it for granted, the moments that you get with him,” LaFleur said. "Who knows how long he wants to go, but I think from all our vantage points, I think we’d all agree he can go as long as he wants. He’s playing some dang good football right now, and more importantly, he’s enjoying it.”

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