Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is not putting stock into winning the Super Bowl as an end goal.
There has been a lot of talk regarding the Los Angeles Rams and how the team is "expected" to win the Super Bowl. After trading for Myles Garrett, the current narrative surrounding the team is that either they win it all or the 2026 season will be considered a huge failure.
That idea or principle is not something that quarterback Matthew Stafford is buying into. Stafford has spoken out plenty regarding the expectations surrounding the Rams in 2026, and he has simply stated what most players and coaches have: stay focused on the here and now.
Los Angeles could very well compete for a Super Bowl this season, but a lot has to go right for that to happen, depsite how many playmakers exist on both sides of the ball.
For Stafford, he does not see the 2025 season as an "abject failure," and instead pointed to the team having a huge season regardless of the outcome.
Stafford joined "Youth Inc." with former NFL tight end Greg Olsen, and the Rams quarterback broke down how he operates in terms of how he views success.
"I think my approach stays the same, right? It's not, 'Hey, if you don't win the Super Bowl it's an abject failure,' you know, I mean, everybody wants to do that, but man, did we have a great season last year. I appreciate the guys that I went to war with. I love playing this game being a part of the NFL and you know, take that as a huge blessing in my life. So I mean as much as you can shut the outside world out ... try to have, you know, some rational thought around it. And if you do that, I feel like, uh, it's a little bit easier to understand what success truly is," Stafford said.
Stafford is pointing to being humble, as he has been thus far in his NFL journey. Additionally, looking at the 2025 season as a "failure" is not the case whatsoever, and that would be his opinion if the Rams were to also miss out on the Super Bowl in 2026.
Head coach Sean McVay also echoed a similar sentiment, guiding his players to block the outside noise and just aim to get better every single day.
Again, getting to the Super Bowl is hard enough, especially for NFC teams. The Rams are one of the top teams.
In the NFC West alone, the Rams have the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks to worry about playing twice a year. The former are the reigning Super Bowl champions and knocked Los Angeles out during the NFC Championship Game.
There are also the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, and many others that are presumably set to be better in 2026.
The Rams cannot afford to get wrapped up in believing their own expectations, and instead should just follow the guidance of McVay and Stafford. Both have spent decades in the NFL and have been very successful apart from one another and together.
Garrett definitely gives the Rams a huge boost on defense, but he isn't the only one on the team who has also had success.
If the Rams can stay healthy and play in the manner they did in 2025, they will have similar success in 2026.
