Rams' Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua named All-Pro ahead of playoffs

Drake Bentley

Rams' Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua named All-Pro ahead of playoffs image

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and wideout Puka Nacua earned first-team All-Pro honors on Saturday.

Stafford, in his 17th NFL season, led the league with 46 touchdown passes and threw for 4,707 yards, marking his first career All-Pro selection. The 37-year-old guided Los Angeles to a 12-5 record and the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Rams will face the Carolina Panthers on Saturday in a wild-card matchup at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., and Stafford is projected to place in the top two of the MVP voting.

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Nacua, a third-year receiver, hauled in an NFL-best 129 receptions, including 10 touchdown catches. His 1,715 receiving yards ranked second in the league, trailing only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who finished with 1,793.

The All-Pro team is selected by a 50-member panel of media members who regularly cover the NFL; Los Angeles Times reporters do not participate in award voting.

The Rams closed the regular season with a 3-3 record, a stretch that included a loss to the Panthers, a crushing overtime defeat against the Seahawks, and a surprising loss to the Falcons the following week.

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A key factor in the latter two losses was the absence of veteran receiver Davante Adams. Adams aggravated a hamstring injury during L.A.'s Week 14 victory over the Lions but is expected to return Saturday. His comeback restores one of Stafford’s primary red-zone weapons — Adams led the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns despite missing three games — and reunites the Rams with one of the league’s top receiving duos alongside Nacua.

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