Rams QB Matthew Stafford (Post-Game Transcript)
On the Rams getting a win in Philadelphia after the past few matchups:
“The last couple times we’ve been here, like you said, it probably felt like we played better in those games and had opportunities to win games and didn’t get it done. That’s the NFL. You have to go earn every single one of them. Obviously, our defense was outstanding today, getting that stop a bunch of times, but the one late was huge for us. It gave us the opportunity to try to get some points on a long drive. We would go down there and get a touchdown. And then getting off the field late in the game again, it gave us another opportunity. So I can’t say enough good things about our defense and how resilient they played today. We put them in some tough spots.
On his two interceptions:
“Obviously, I don’t ever want to turn the ball over like the first one. It was a physical mistake, the ball kind of sailed on me. On the second one, I just got too aggressive. We scored on the drive before and I was like, ‘Man, how great would it be if we go score again right before the half and we get the ball back?’ And I trust our guys. I put that ball in a bad spot and obviously [Eagles DB] Cooper [DeJean] made a nice play. So I don’t ever want those to happen. I’m going to do everything I can to try to make sure they don’t for our team. But [Rams Head Coach] Sean [McVay] did a heck of a job, and he kept calling the game through me and threw our guys on the outside and just tried to spread the ball around. It wasn’t easy conditions to throw and catch in some of those instances. It got a little wet, but our guys did a heck of a job and just really resilient stuff from our group. So I’m really proud to be a part of it.”
On whether he felt an emotional shift by the offense late in the game when the Rams defense got several key stops:
“Obviously that’s a huge part of it. I think the cool thing about our group is we were steady the whole game. Things were going our way. Either I was throwing a bad pass, or we were not catching one. We go backwards with the penalty after the first time we get field position all day. So any way you can shoot yourself in the foot, we were doing it on the offensive side of the ball. But we just kept the belief. Our defense, like I said, kept us in it, gave us opportunities to stay in that game. I’m just proud of the resilience of our group and it took everybody.”
On how he felt Rams WR Puka Nacua played in his return from injury:
“He played well. Obviously I have to go look at the tape, but I thought he did some really good stuff. I want to look at that call where he had that [illegal] block. I didn’t see much of that one, but I mean I thought he played great. He’s such an energy spark for us obviously. He made some tough catches late in the game for us over the middle. Guys were draped all over him. So he played like Puka to me.”
On his belief in the offense to success in pressure situations:
“I think if you don’t have belief, then what are we doing? That’s what we put all this work in for. We put all the work in Monday through Saturday so that when those instances come up on Sunday, we believe in each other. We understand, ‘Hey, this guy’s put the work in to go do what we do.’ And listen, not every game is going to go exactly how you want it. Sometimes you’re going to have to find ways to win football games and that’s what we did today. But I know I believe in everybody in that moment when I’m speaking strictly offensively. We got the football. I believe in everybody to go out there and do their job and play at a high level. I thought our offensive line did a heck of a job tonight protecting the pocket for me and opening some lanes in the run game. The [running] backs did a heck of a job, receivers, everybody, tight ends got involved. So I got a ton of belief in those guys. I hope they have a lot of belief in me that, ‘Hey man, the game could have gone any kind of way up until that point, but we get the ball back with some chances to score late.’ I hope they have a lot of belief in me that I’m going to do everything I can to put the past behind me and move forward and try to find a way to get some points.”
On what Rams RB Kyren Williams’ energy brings to the team:
“Great. It’s week in and week out. He’s the same guy. He’s one of the most consistent guys I’ve been around. I can’t imagine being a running back in the NFL, what you put your body through and what he’s able to do week in and week out. To produce for our team, both on a physical standpoint, but also just an emotional standpoint. Like you said, he’s a huge plus for us and am just really happy for his success today. I think you see it. Obviously everybody’s excited that we score on those two runs late in the game, but just the way we all surround him and all of his teammates go to congratulate the man. He means a lot to our team and played great today.”
On facing adversity in past seasons:
“Yeah, I mean it’s a different team every single year. I’ve played long enough. I’ve had adversity a lot of times early on in the seasons and sometimes you found ways to dig yourself out and sometimes not. I think the biggest thing for us is trusting our process and understanding ‘Hey man, do we need to play better?’ For sure. And that happens with just getting back to work and making sure that we’re doing everything we can to try to prepare to play better. This three and a half hour window on Sunday, it’s up for grabs every single week. And the only thing you can do is prepare as best you possibly can to go out there and have a successful outcome and put it all out there with uncertainty of what’s about to happen. I think if you have that attitude which our team does, our head coach does, I think it can calm some of those storms for you, whether that’s in a game like it was today or sometimes throughout months or weeks of the season. So we got guys that are really disciplined in their thought process and understand that what’s going to help us move forward is trying to do everything we can day in and day out to prepare to go play well and then go out there and cut it loose on Sunday and live with the results. And so today was a great example of that. Plenty of plays where we didn’t get the result that we wanted, but we got the result that we wanted at the end of the game. I think that’s a lot to do with the fact that guys just understand what it’s all about and that’s about going to work and playing the next play no matter where it is on the field, whatever the conditions are, whatever the situation of the game is.”
On what Rams Head Coach Sean McVay said to the team prior to their fourth-down conversion:
“Yeah, just trying to motivate us. Obviously Sean’s a fantastic leader, was heavily involved with the offensive side of the ball and was just trying to put some belief in our team, which I think we had, but it was great to hear from him how much he trusted and believed in us. And obviously I want to put that ball on [Rams TE Tyler Higbee]. [Eagles LB Jeremiah] Trotter [Jr.] did a really nice job of kind of flashing back into the window. So I could do a better job of giving him one to catch there. But [Rams TE Tyler Higbee] was great today and obviously Sean was as well.”
On the importance of being 2-2 vs. 1-3:
“I mean, I think we touched on it earlier, we’ve played some good ball here in the past and haven’t come away with the win and obviously didn’t play our best today, but we found a way to win the football game and that’s what it’s all about. We’d love to come out there and score every single time we touch the ball and stop them three and out. And that’s just not the case in the NFL, but coming together as a team, finding a way to figure it out and get a win. It wasn’t all pretty in the fourth quarter either. We had plenty of opportunities that we let slip through in all three phases on the day. So just proud of our group, proud of our team. Hopefully it is really important come later in the year. Thanks guys.”