Rams Matthew Stafford Showing Promising Connection With Puka Nacua
Training camp gave fans plenty of reasons to be concerned about the upcoming season for the Los Angeles Rams, among those being the health of star receiver Cooper Kupp and the ability of quarterback Matthew Stafford to connect with his younger teammates.
Both of those were somewhat quelled in the Rams' season-opening 30-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, as Stafford and the offense seemingly turned back the clocks to their Super Bowl-winning season, a major difference being the absence of Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr.
Stafford, 35, coming off a season where he played in just nine games due to injuries, completed 24 of his 38 passes for 334 yards as the Rams overcame a 13-7 halftime deficit with a 23-point second-half performance.
Stafford's 334 passing yards was the most he's thrown since Week 4 of last season, where he threw for 308 in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, which is impressive considering the fact he was without Kupp. While Stafford's Week 1 play is good news for the Rams, the emergence of rookie receiver Puka Nacua could be even better.
Despite Stafford's wife, Kelly, revealing in her podcast recently that her husband was having a hard time "connecting" with his younger teammates, the veteran quarterback connected with Nacua a team-high 10 times for the tune of 119 yards which tied him with Tutu Atwell for best on the team.
With Kupp on the sidelines for the first four games of the season, Nacua's breakout could become crucial to the Rams offense staying competitive without their star wide-out.
"Puka’s come in and we’ve asked him to do a lot," Stafford said about his rookie receiver in a recent interview with NBC Sports' Peter King. "Every time we put something more on his plate, he does a great job making it come to life. Obviously has great run-after-catch ability and he’s a physical player. The game makes sense to him if you know what I mean. And he grinds. I trust him."
