Matthew Stafford — Week 3: Three Ninety, Two Late Picks
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Stafford completed 30 of 55 attempts, two of them spikes, for 390 yards, the most by any quarterback in Week 3 so far, with two touchdowns, two interceptions and four sacks. Talanoa Hufanga's 66-yard pick-six on third and 6 with 5:01 left turned a 19–16 lead into a deficit, and Hufanga's second interception ended the game in the end zone, in a 30–26 loss to the Broncos.
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19 to 16, Rams, five oh one left in the fourth quarter, third and six at the Denver 38. Matthew Stafford threw short left for Kyren Williams, four yards past the line, and Talanoa Hufanga intercepted it at the Denver 34 and returned it 66 yards for the touchdown. −9.3 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and −52.6 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Los Angeles went from an 80 percent favorite to 27 in one snap, the largest swing of the night. On the next possession, after a one-yard sack, Stafford hit Konata Mumpfield on three straight throws, the last deep right for 48 yards and the touchdown that put Los Angeles back ahead with three 46 left, +28.7 points of win probability.
The line: 30 completions on 55 attempts, two of them spikes, 390 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, four sacks for 24 yards. 390 was the most passing yards by any quarterback this week, with 30 of the 32 teams having played, and his most this season. The Rams' 57 pass plays still came out at −1.1 expected points, seventeenth of the 30 teams; the two interceptions alone cost 11.4. 19 completions before halftime for a hundred 90 yards and a 16 to nothing lead, 11 after for 200. The first touchdown was five yards to Tyler Higbee on second and five with five minutes left in the first quarter, two snaps after Stafford scrambled 10 yards on third and eight to the Denver five. On third down he had 13 pass plays, six completions and four conversions. Five throws traveled 20 or more yards in the air, and the one caught was the 48.
Down 30 to 26 with 42 seconds left, from the Los Angeles 33, he went three of six for 53 yards to the Denver 14 — 19 20 to Williams, and 14 to Higbee that the replay official changed from incomplete to a catch. After a spike and a false start, his last throw, second and 15 from the 19 with two seconds left, deep right for Davante Adams, was Hufanga's second interception, in the end zone.
Back in June the preview's case for Stafford rested on the efficiency: 46 touchdown passes and the league's most valuable player award at 37, the second-best adjusted net yards per attempt in football, and two cautions — no rushing floor, and a touchdown total that would come down. Week One in Melbourne was 15 of 25 for a hundred 55 and no touchdowns. Week Two was four touchdowns and 327 yards. Sunday was the most yards of the three and the most turnovers: two interceptions, both to the same safety, both in the last six minutes. Three games: 872 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions. The preview's claim that the efficiency is real now has one start for it, one against, and one that was both. Los Angeles is at the Eagles on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Matthew Stafford's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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