Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams will face the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game, as the Rams will try to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2021.
This matchup will be a great one for neutral fans. But for the Rams, and specifically for Stafford, this matchup poses a lot of problems.
The Seahawks' defense is the best in the NFL, which is bad enough, but it gets even worse.
According to NFL senior researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, the Rams quarterback, who led the NFL in passing yards, doesn't have history on his side against the top-scoring Seahawks defense.
Matthew Stafford doesn't have history on his side vs. Seahawks
In the last 50 years, if the top-scoring defense goes up against the NFL's passing yards leader, the defense wins 100% of the time.
"Since 1975, the passing yards leader is 0-6 in the playoffs vs the No. 1 scoring defense," Koplowitz-Fleming notes.
Stafford leads the NFL with 4,707 passing yards this season. The Seahawks defense has allowed just 292 points, the lowest amount in the league, with only the Houston Texans allowing under 310 points.
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The last time that the NFL's leading passer went up against the NFL's top scoring defense was the infamous Seahawks-Denver Broncos Super Bowl XLVIII, when Peyton Manning was blown out 43-8.
This is not a good sign for the Rams and Stafford, and while he should be able to have a better day against the Seahawks defense than Manning did, it's still a concerning matchup.
Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers were blown out 41-6, and the Seahawks defense looked as good as ever. Stafford will not only need to win on the road, against the NFL's best defense, but also overcome some incredible NFL history.
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