Matthew Stafford, the quarterback for the Rams, is aware of what and, perhaps more importantly, who the Cleveland Browns will match him up against on Sunday.
Jim Schwartz, the coordinator who was Stafford’s first coach with the Detroit Lions, has created one of the best defenses in the NFL.
“He’s one of the best, if not the best kind of mind out there on defense,” Stafford said Wednesday.
15-year veteran Stafford spent five seasons in Schwartz’s coaching after the Lions selected him first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft.
The Lions made the playoffs for the first time in twelve seasons in 2011 after finishing 2-14 and 6-10 in the previous two seasons. But Schwartz was fired after the next two seasons, going a combined 11-21.
Before being traded to the Rams in 2021, Stafford spent seven more seasons playing for the Lions. Prior to joining the Browns this season, Schwartz was a coach for the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tennessee Titans.
“I was grateful for the opportunity” to play for Schwartz, Stafford said. “Obviously, he believed in me enough to draft me and bring me in there. … A lot of respect for him as a coach and a person.
“Always a tough battle going up against him and his defenses.”
The Browns are allowing a league-low 247.9 yards and a league-low 142 yards passing per game, led by ends Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith. They are ranked 12th in rushing defense (105.9 yards per game) and seventh in points allowed (19 per game).
Stafford and the Rams, who just defeated the Arizona Cardinals 37-14, will therefore face a challenge. With the victory, Stafford finished 25 of 33 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. The Rams’ record improved to 5-6 and they are now definitely in the running for the NFC playoffs.
In 208 regular-season and postseason starts, Stafford passed for at least four touchdowns for the 16th time. It was his first four-touchdown game since defeating the New York Giants on October 17, 2021.
This time, he performed it while still dealing with a partially healed right thumb ligament injury from his Oct. 29 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
After the Rams had a week off, Stafford returned to the field and led a fourth-quarter comeback to the team’s 17-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Stafford had missed the Rams’ loss to the Green Bay Packers. Stafford found receiver Tutu Atwell for a 42-yard gain and two touchdown passes to running back Kyren Williams and tight end Tyler Higbee during the Cardinals game.
The Rams’ training staff is still taping and managing Stafford’s thumb support with six games remaining.
“It’s not all the way back,” said Stafford, who has passed for 13 touchdowns with nine interceptions, “but it’s definitely trending in the right direction.”
There may be other veteran quarterbacks starting on Sunday besides Stafford.
Following a 29-12 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Browns (7-4) seem to be ready to start Joe Flacco. Dorian Thompson-Robinson is undergoing concussion protocol, and Deshaun Watson is sidelined due to a shoulder injury.
P.J. Walker has started two games this season, but Flacco, 38, who started his NFL career a year before Stafford and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens to end the 2012 campaign, was signed by the Browns this week.
“You never know what their approach is with Joe,” Rams coach Sean McVay said, “so we’ve got to be ready for all of them.”
Flacco spent one season with the Broncos, three with the New York Jets, and eleven with the Ravens. In the previous five seasons, he is 3-14 as a starter.