Matthew Stafford Faces A Major Test Without Puka Nacua and Davante Adams

Matthew Stafford and Los Angeles Rams lean on Konata Mumpfield and Tutu Atwell against the cardinals© Image via: X/@NFL_DovKleiman

For most of this season, Matthew Stafford has built the Los Angeles Rams passing game around Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, but Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals he will have neither of them, and Terrance Ferguson is out too while Jordan Whittington sits on injured reserve with a back injury. Konata Mumpfield, Tutu Atwell and CJ Daniels inherit the job for a 5-4 team coming off a 20-13 win at Washington, and Stafford insists the plan still works even though his own numbers have dipped from last year.

Matthew Stafford Counts On Konata Mumpfield And Tutu Atwell To Fill The Gap

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Stafford rested his confidence on practice, where he says he throws to Mumpfield, Atwell and Daniels every day, which means the timing between them exists even if the game snaps are fewer than he has shared with Nacua and Adams over the years. When asked whether pulling the trigger on throws to these receivers feels harder, he answered directly.

"No, it's not difficult to pull the trigger," Stafford said.

The two receivers at the center of the plan are not strangers to the offense. Mumpfield played 375 offensive snaps last season and has already taken 269 this year, while Atwell arrived as a rookie in 2021, the same year the Rams traded for Stafford, and has spent five seasons in Los Angeles without putting up big production. Because they now serve as the top two targets, they must absorb a workload that Nacua handled at Washington, where he caught 14 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, and they must do it against an Arizona team that already beat the Rams 18-16 earlier this season.

Rookie CJ Daniels working with Matthew Stafford during Rams practice. These two will have to develop a connection and fast this Sunday against Arizona. https://t.co/hOglUM4RGW

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) November 12, 2026

"I have a good feeling on Sunday," Stafford said.

Colin Cowherd Points To Ty Simpson As Matthew Stafford's Passer Rating Falls

The receiver losses land at a time when Stafford is already throwing at a lower level than the one that won him MVP last season. Through eight games he has 2,146 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, with a 93.2 passer rating compared with the career-best 109.2 he posted in 2025, and that slide, set against a season that began with Super Bowl hopes and a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, has given commentators room to look ahead. Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd, for one, has already named the quarterback he expects to see next year.

"I don't think it's crazy to suggest Ty Simpson is the starting quarterback next year," Cowherd said.

The Rams drafted Simpson 13th overall in April after he spent one season as Alabama's starter, throwing for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions and leading the Crimson Tide into the College Football Playoff. Stafford, meanwhile, signed a one-year extension worth up to $55 million in the spring, and nothing from the team suggests a change before then, so for now the quarterback conversation stays in the realm of talk-show debate while Stafford works through a receiver group he has been throwing to all season in practice.