Matthew Stafford humbled by Lions fans wearing his jersey to Rams game Sunday

SoFi Stadium was packed on Sunday afternoon for the Rams’ 28-19 win over Jared Goff, Michael Brockers and the Lions. However, it wasn’t just Rams fans in the stands. There were plenty of Lions supporters who came out to Inglewood to support their team – and also see Matthew Stafford play against Detroit for the first time in his career.

It was a meaningful game for Stafford after he spent 12 years in Detroit, and he couldn’t help but notice all of the No. 9 Lions jerseys in the crowd. He was humbled by the support he received from Lions fans, once again describing how enjoyable his time was in Detroit over the last dozen years.

“It was humbling, it was really nice to see,” he said after the game. “Driving into this stadium today, I saw a few walking around and I thought to myself, ‘That was pretty cool.’ I really appreciate it. I’ve said it a bunch of times, and I truly mean it, I loved my time there. I love all the people there that treated me, my family, my wife, with a ton of respect and a ton of grace for a long time. So, it was cool to see that. Once the ball was snapped, it was football time. I was ready to go play. But it was cool to see some of the stuff going on around.”

Stafford led the Rams to a nine-point win over the Lions, throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns against his former team. He didn’t prepare extra hard for this game because he had a history with the Lions, saying he wants to put together a good performance each and every week regardless of the opponent.

“No. I want to have a really good game every time I step out there so there was nothing extra, to be honest with you,” he said. “I just wanted to do whatever we had to do to help us win. And that’s how I kind of approach it every single week. Each game is going to unfold a little bit different. Today was as strange of an opening part of a game as I’ve been a part of. But I thought we were even-keeled. I think that started from our head coach all the way down. Everybody did a great job in weathering the storm and knowing that if we went out there and executed what we were supposed to do, we were going to be in a good place and finally got the opportunities to do that and went and did it.”

The Rams enter Week 8 with an impressive 6-1 record, which is likely to improve to 7-1 with the Texans on deck. If Stafford continues to play the way he has in the first seven weeks, he’ll find himself in the MVP conversation late in the year, too.