WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – As it turns out, changing his arm slot to thread a pass for a finger-tipped grab that only he could make was not what impressed Rams wide receiver [Davante Adams](/team/players-roster/davante-adams/) the most about quarterback [Matthew Stafford](/team/players-roster/matthew-stafford/) last Sunday against the Titans.
"The most impressive thing (from) me watching him today was his demeanor after he threw that pick," Adams said postgame. "Just watching how... I told him during the game. I was like, 'Bro, you are just the coolest dude I've been around.' He's not cussing, he's not blaming anybody. It was like it happened in practice, which is, I mean... there's obviously another side to it where you can not care enough. But, I mean, you can just tell he's dialed in, locked in, not gonna let stuff like that rattle him. That kind of radiates throughout the rest of the team, just that type of poise and confidence."
Adams this week of course praised that pass, the types of which he's come to expect with Stafford even in just the two games they've played together. Still, the anecdote illustrated how important that poise has been to the Rams' 2-0 start, poise that will again be needed in this Sunday's divisional round rematch with the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia (10 a.m. PT, FOX).
Eight months ago, it was the same poise that, despite everything that had gone wrong through the first 58 minutes of that snow playoff game at the stadium, had No. 4 seed Los Angeles 22 yards away upsetting No. 2 seed Philadelphia and advancing to the NFC Championship.
"The closer you get, if you don't get there, it stings," Stafford said Wednesday. "You look back at the tape, you watch some of that from this week, just because it was the most recent time that we played them and realized that we were close in a lot of areas, and then a lot of areas we need to clean up as well. So difficult loss like they all are, but especially that late this season, for sure, it's one that sticks with you a little bit."
In Week 2 against the Titans, Stafford had a 152.7 passer rating in the second half, which marked the Rams' fifth-best second-half passer rating on the road since 2000 (minimum 10 attempts in the second half), and the best since Stafford himself had a 158.3 mark in Week 14, 2021. Across those third and fourth quarters, he was 14 of 17 passing for 191 yards and threw both of his touchdowns, en route to a final line of 23 of 33 for 298 yards and two touchdowns against that lone interception.
"Only thing to do is keep playing," Stafford said postgame. "I can't just sit there and be pissed about it all day. Gotta get mad about it, figure it out. I knew exactly when it left my hand what the deal was. Ok, well, move on, and what's the one thing I can do? I touch it every play, let me go make up for it right now and play smart but aggressive in the second half, and I feel like coach called it that way and I played it that way. It wasn't perfect, but ended up in some points, which was good."
Stafford transparently indicated that his demeanor wasn't the perfect picture of even-keeled, saying postgame that Adams must've missed when he slammed his helmet in frustration on the sideline after the pick. Stafford joked everyone would just pretend like it didn't happen.
Based on that second-half stat line, he can be forgiven for it. Even if Adams missed that moment of Stafford unable to hide his frustration, it shows how much of a difference-maker his on-field demeanor is – especially when bracing for taking on the defending Super Bowl champions on the road.
"We have so much trust in Matthew," offensive lineman Coleman Shelton said. "He's a pro's pro. He's going to do everything the right way. So when a little adversity hits, we know he's not going to flinch and we're going to still shoot our shot. So it's kind of just like that's just happened. Let's turn the page and move on.
"We trust our leader every time."