Rams' Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp Have Built Winning Formula Through Three Weeks

Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp have created a strong bond after three weeks into the 2021 season.

The Los Angeles Rams offense has taken the league by notice with the significant connection between quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

Stafford, who’s played in just three games as a member of the Rams, has identified his favorite target early on with his new team. Look no further than Kupp, the former third-round pick that largely went overlooked prior to making his mark in the NFL after playing in the college ranks at Eastern Washington.

Kupp is now in his fifth year in the NFL, and while he's been a highly productive player, he's just now starting to garner national attention as one of the NFL's elite pass-catchers.

“He’s one of those guys that’s about as overlooked as anybody in the league," Stafford said last week.

Stafford and Kupp have connected on 25 passes for 367 yards and five touchdowns. Kupp has already surpassed his touchdown total from last season in just three games with Stafford.

Most notably, Kupp is being used more as a vertical threat. Instead of being restricted primarily to doing the majority of his work across the middle of the field, he's being deployed in a multitude of ways which is letting his greatest traits show.

“Cooper is a talented guy," Stafford said of Kupp following the Rams' Week 3 win over the Buccaneers. "You know, some of those plays were great play calls by Sean (McVay). A couple of checks here and there where we got to some stuff where he was going to be open and did a great job. He’ll be the first guy to tell you, when everyone else around him is playing great, it helps. DeSean (Jackson) had a great game, (Tyler) Higbee had a good game. Woody (Robert Woods) made a great catch on third down. I mean, when we get that going, it’s tough to zero in on one guy. And, you know, Cooper just got his opportunities and made the most of them.”

During training camp, Kupp told L.A. reporters that he wanted to expand his role in 2021 to be known as a complete pass-catcher and not just a slot receiver. Through three games, Kupp is averaging 14.7 yards per catch, posing a threat to beat opposing defenses over the top with his speed and crisp route running.

Kupp is off to the best season of his career, thanks in part to Stafford's first-class arm talent and accuracy. But Kupp isn't the only one who’s off to a personal best. Stafford too has posted career-highs through three games, including completion percentage, yards per attempt, quarterback rating and touchdown to interception ratio.

In just three games in, the duo of Stafford and Kupp still remains getting acclimated with one another as they've only had a couple of months working as teammates. While their fast start has been quite notable, the best may be yet to come for this dynamic pairing.

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Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.