Matthew Stafford had one of the best seasons of his NFL career in 2025, leading the league in touchdown passes and passing yards and earning NFL MVP honors. However, with how successful the season was, it’s easy to forget how shaky things looked for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
Entering the 2025 season, there was significant skepticism about Stafford’s health and his long-term future in the NFL. While few doubted his ability, there were legitimate concerns about his health and whether his body could withstand a full season.
Sean McVay Shares How Impressive Matthew Stafford’s Season was After a Serious Back Injury
Sean McVay recently joined the ‘Bussin’ with the Boys’ podcast to talk about Stafford, the Rams, his career, and all things football with Taylor Lewan and Will Compton.
Stafford suffered a serious back injury during the training camp in 2025, and back injuries typically linger and affect most motions related to playing football. McVay shared the injury was real, and that the team was “nervous as hell” leading up to the season about Stafford’s status.
“What people don’t realize is, he and I sat down, and it was like ‘Hey, this isn’t responding the way that we hoped, let’s put you on temporary IR, so where we [don’t feel] this anxiety of like having to hit a timeline to be ready to go,'” McVay said of his conversations with Stafford during training camp. “He did some different things, that was amazing, that only he could articulate in terms of unique treatments and outside-the-box thinking, where he’s going basically into a torture chamber for 48 hours.”
Despite serious concerns and the lack of practice reps during training camp, the Super Bowl champion quarterback didn’t let that deter his desire to get back on the field and help his teammates pursue another Super Bowl.
“You could also see that there’s this mindset that’s a separator in the greats, where he went out there, and he was like ‘f**k it, I’m going to swing,’ and he did it, and then he never looked back,” McVay added. “It led to him playing as free and as still as I’ve ever seen him do.”
Stafford ranked as the No. 6 quarterback in PFSN’s Quarterback Impact Metric (QBi) in 2025, completing 65% of his passes for 4,707 yards, 46 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. His numbers shattered his previous two seasons, throwing for more touchdown passes in 2025 than he did in 2023 and 2024 combined.
The superstar quarterback recorded a new career-high in touchdown passes and led the No. 1-ranked offense in PFSN’s Offense Impact Metric (OFFi). Los Angeles led the league in yards per game (394.6), passing yards per game (268.1), and points per game (30.5).
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Despite a statistically dominant season, the Rams came up short of their ultimate goal: a championship. The Rams fell to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game, after also losing out on the NFC West Division Title to Seattle.
Los Angeles is projected to be among the favorites to win Super Bowl 61, which would be a home game, as the game is being held at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. This will be the second Super Bowl played in SoFi Stadium, with the first being Stafford’s lone Super Bowl victory.
While it’s unclear how long the 38-year-old quarterback will continue to play, the Rams have their succession plan in place with first-round pick Ty Simpson waiting in the wings, but the job is clearly Stafford’s for as long as he wants it.
Stafford and the Rams will look to avenge their loss in the NFC Championship Game and make it a trend that they play in the Super Bowl when it’s hosted by them. His health will certainly be something to monitor, but assuming he is on the field, the Rams figure to have one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, making them a dangerous team to play against.
