Editor’s note: This is the Monday Sept. 26 edition of the “Game Day with Kevin Modesti” newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.

Good morning. The Rams’ Matthew Stafford had a forgettable game yesterday in Arizona. I mean that in a good way, seeing all of the memorable things that happened to other star quarterbacks on the third Sunday of the NFL season.

There are non-NFL headlines:

The Dodgers’ clinched top seed in the National League playoffs.
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani led the Angels.
Angel City FC lost but still has hope in the playoff race.
Our USC and UCLA writers look at what Saturday’s wins showed.
And Lakers reporter Kyle Goon writes about who’s under pressure as training camp opens.

In the NFL, meanwhile, it was an upsetting day for a lot of big-name quarterbacks.

The Chargers’ Justin Herbert played against the Jaguars 10 days after fracturing rib cartilage, and he probably shouldn’t have been on the field, at least not after Jacksonville built a huge lead in a 38-10 surprise.

Columnist Jim Alexander wrote that it was Herbert’s wish to play but “the player doesn’t always know best” and Chargers coach Brandon Staley took an unnecessary risk with a franchise player.

“There are times when a coach has to say no,” Alexander wrote, “to override his star in order to do what’s best for not only the team but for him.”

Around the league, eight of the 14 games resulted in outright upsets, and the victims included Tom Brady’s Buccaneeers, Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs and Josh Allen’s Bills.

Mahomes got into a brief shouting match (as AP called it) with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, before coach Andy Reid broke it up, after the Chiefs decided to run out the first-half clock instead of trying to score again in what became a 20-17 loss to the Colts.

Allen was frustrated at the end of the Buffalo’s 21-19 loss to the 3-0 Dolphins when the clock ran out as he tried to spike the ball within field-goal range. But not as frustrated as Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who slammed down his headset in a coaches’-booth tantrum.

Maybe the weirdest thing to happen to a quarterback yesterday involved the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo, starting again after Trey Lance’s season-ending injury. Garoppolo stepped out of the back of the end zone in the third quarter, giving the Broncos a safety in what became an 11-10 Denver victory. It could have been worse – before it became clear Garoppolo stepped out, the play had gone for an interception and a Broncos touchdown.

“It could have been worse” could be the title of the Rams offensive highlight video from yesterday’s 20-12 victory over the Cardinals in Glendale, Ariz.

The offensive star was running back Cam Akers with 61 yards, 14 on a touchdown run. Cooper Kupp’s four receptions for 44 yards – plus a 20-yard run for a touchdown – ended his long streaks of five-plus catches and 90-plus yards. Stafford failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time as a Ram.

It was a game that kept tempting the Rams to give it away and spoil the defense’s good work against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. And that might have happened if Stafford had been having one of his turnover-prone days. But this was anything but one of those days.

Stafford’s best play was avoiding disaster on third down and 11 at the Rams’ 24 in the third quarter, when he spun to get away from the Cardinals’ rush and side-armed a pass to Kupp for an 11-yard gain, keeping alive the drive to the game’s final touchdown.

As our Gilbert Manzano wrote: “Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford finished 18 of 25 for 249 yards, but most importantly, he didn’t commit a turnover, after having five interceptions in the first two games of the season.”

Exactly. The game reminded me of the one against the Cardinals – coincidentally or not – last January in which Stafford threw only 17 passes but avoided turnovers after throwing seven interceptions in the previous three games. That was the Rams’ first playoff win on their way to winning the Super Bowl.

Stafford talked afterward about penalties and an early sack that kept the Rams from jumping out to a bigger lead, but sounded satisfied.

“I’m proud of the way we fought today,” he said. “In the NFL, it’s tough to win football games. In the division, on the road, it’s nice to come out here and get a win.”

There’s no such thing as a signature Stafford win. He’s sometimes called a gunslinger, but he has different ways of making things go right for the Rams.

The quarterback could look around the NFL yesterday and see all the different ways things can go wrong.

TODAY

• The Kings, who lost their preseason opener to the Sharks last night, face the Golden Knights in Las Vegas (7 p.m., NHLN).

NEXT QUESTION

Was Chargers coach Brandon Staley correct to let quarterback Justin Herbert keep playing late in yesterday’s one-sided loss to the Jaguars, after Herbert was “questionable” with fractured rib cartilage? Email your opinion to [email protected].

280 CHARACTERS

This is the first time in the expansion era (2011+) that #Pac12 has had four teams in AP top-15 at this point in the season (polling Week Five).

(It has had four in top 16)

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) September 25, 2022

– Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) of the Mercury News.

(Break up the Pac-12! Oh, right.)

1,000 WORDS

Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers (3) dives for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

TALK TO ME

Thanks for reading the newsletter. Send suggestions, comments and questions by email at [email protected] and via Twitter @KevinModesti.

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