The Rams know what they are going to get from Matthew Stafford almost every week.
No player is great every game, but Stafford has a standard of excellence that has stood the test of time. That is why last week’s stinker is viewed as an anomaly. Stafford usually puts together a performance good enough to win and often great enough to win big.
Stafford’s record as a starting quarterback across 17 years is 120-119-1, a byproduct of playing for bad to middling Lions teams for a dozen seasons. He is 46-29 in six years with the Rams and a big reason why, despite a clunker in Australia to open the 2026 season, his team is considered a serious Super Bowl contender.
It is the goal of any franchise to find its own Matthew Stafford. The Giants want to believe they are on their way with Jaxson Dart.
Dart, after a promising rookie year, was sensational in last week’s season-opening 28-20 victory over the Cowboys. It looked as if he made enormous strides as he embarked on Year 2, playing with great confidence and smarts from the pocket and under center, two areas the new coaching staff, led by John Harbaugh, insisted would be a focus for the 23-year-old.
How good was Dart? He became the first player ever with at least three touchdown passes, a passer rating of 130 or higher and 50 or more rushing yards in a season opener. Dart tossed two scoring passes to tight end Isaiah Likely and one to running back Devin Singletary, ran for 54 yards and compiled a passer rating of 134.2, a career high in his 13 NFL starts.
“There’s a lot of things that factor into that performance Week 1, and first and foremost it’s Jaxson’s willingness to work at it,’’ quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Brian Callahan said. “He spent a ton of time. It’s really important to him. Everything that we do he tries to do it exactly how we ask it, and he’s also got the athletic ability and the capacity to take that coaching and then go do it.
“It was really encouraging to see him play like that. I thought he played a really good game, and now the key for us is how do we do it again.’’
Do it again. And again. That is the hallmark of an elite quarterback, and Dart will be in the spotlight, again, as the Giants play their second primetime game in as many weeks. Opening at home against the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football’’ and then traveling cross-country to face the Rams at SoFi Stadium in a “Monday Night Football’’ matchup was always going to be a two-week gauntlet for the Giants. The possibility of 0-2 was definitely a talking point outside the building. Now the Giants are 1-0, and 2-0 is possible if Dart can follow up his Week 1 performance with more excellence.
“It’s going to be a great test,’’ Dart said. “It’s going to be a great test for our team. The players that they have on their team, some really, really good guys. So, we believe that we have really good guys too.’’
Stafford was uncharacteristically bad last week, with a passer rating of 35.8 in a 27-7 loss to the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. He is coming off an unreal season, leading the league in touchdowns and passing yards to win his first Most Valuable Player award. In May, the Rams gave him a one-year, $55 million contract extension through 2027, showing they have faith in him at 38 years old.
Dart is on the rise, and no one knows how high he will reach on the NFL quarterback list. If he plays well in his first road game of the season, the Giants should have a shot at pulling off a second consecutive upset. They have wide receiver Malik Nabers rounding into form after an encouraging return last week from ACL surgery, an intact offensive line and a power rushing attack. They have a defensive front capable of getting after Stafford, which will be a necessity, as the secondary will be without experienced reserve cornerback Paulson Adebo (on injured reserve) and most likely without starting cornerback Deonte Banks (calf).
As good as that first victory felt to the Giants, Harbaugh did not sound at all concerned that there would be any sort of letdown.
“Well, I don’t think there’s any chance of that,’’ Harbaugh said. “You have to improve to have a chance to be successful next week. So, our guys understand that, and I don’t expect or have any inkling, I don’t believe that’ll happen for one second.’’
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
