Before Matthew Stafford became one of the NFL's most dangerous downfield passers with the Los Angeles Rams, his game underwent a pivotal evolution with the Detroit Lions under former offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
Earlier in his career with the Lions, Stafford told The Athletic's Robert Mays that Detroit's offensive schemes prioritized horizontal efficiency to protect the quarterback. But when Bevell arrived in 2019, he completely altered Stafford's mindset regarding sack avoidance.
"In the offenses before that, sack avoidance was a huge thing and being efficient and all that," Stafford explained. "And the way that we did that in that offense was get the ball out of your hand fast. Let's get it underneath, let's try to catch and run...
And I think when I played in Bev's offense, sack avoidance was, 'Hey, if it's not there, check it down.' Those were the things that kept the sticks moving rather than just calling things underneath and then every once in a while giving an opportunity to throw."
Stafford's yards per passing attempt increased by almost two years between his 2018 season in Jim Bob Cooter's offense and the 2019 season with Bevell. And while Stafford only spent two seasons with Bevell before his 2021 trade to the Rams, he averaged 8.0 yards per attempt versus 7.1 in the previous 10 seasons. Stafford also averaged 9.4 intended air yards per attept under Bevell after averaging just 6.9 under Cooter.
Bevell encouraged Stafford to push the ball downfield aggressively on unexpected downs, leveraging his elite arm strength to manipulate deep zone coverages. Stafford recalled a pivotal moment during a matchup against the Raiders in Oakland that exemplified this shift.
"We go for like a run for minus three or four, and they had a really high tendency on second and long to play two Tampa," Stafford said. "And he calls a play-action pass on second and 13 where nobody thinks it's play-action... He's like, 'Listen to me, this is for the outside.' ... And I throw like a 75-yard touchdown on a just rip shot to Kenny Golladay down the sideline in two Tampa."
That aggressive mentality laid the foundation for Stafford's seamless transition into Sean McVay's scheme, transforming his deep-ball accuracy into a core pillar of the Rams' championship offense. Stafford averaged 7.6 yards per attempt in his five seasons in Los Angeles so far, as well as 8.0 intended air yards per attempt.
Stafford proved in that short time with Bevell that he could change his mentality despite 10 years in the NFL. And he took those talents to Los Angeles.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Matthew Stafford credits this OC for unlocking his deep ball game
