Matthew Stafford threw for a season-high 389 yards and three touchdowns in the Los Angeles Rams' overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5. Since then, the Rams have not lost a game and are eager to avenge that defeat when they visit Levi's Stadium for Sunday's rematch.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan knows stopping Stafford is no easy task. The veteran quarterback has continued to pile up numbers and test defenses around the league. For San Francisco to secure its seventh win of the season, the defense must find a way to limit Stafford's explosive plays.
"It's definitely a challenge," Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco. "It's not like he just got hot that one game and he's gotten worse since. I don't know about stat-wise, but he seems like he gets better and better each week. But I've always thought very highly of Matt. He's one of the best quarterbacks of our generation and a definite Hall of Famer."
Stafford has been punishing NFL defenses in 2025, throwing for 2,147 yards, 21 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. Shanahan emphasized that pressuring Stafford and preventing chunk plays will be critical.
"But you've got to get to him, you've got to affect him," Shanahan continued. "I think one of the things that we can hopefully do better than we did last game is [stopping] those big plays. We gave him a bunch of huge chunk plays. We need to make him work for everything. He can pick you apart, but if he gets those big ones, you can die pretty fast. You want to make it a slow death, a little bit, and then find a way to get off on third down.
"So if you don't give up those big plays—yeah, they're going to move the ball some—but we've got to get him to third down, make him earn every one, and then, if you get off the field on third down and without any points, then you're all right."
With Brock Purdy still sidelined by a turf toe injury, Mac Jones will make his eighth start of the season. However, Purdy has still played an essential role in the 49ers' preparation this week. Working alongside backup Adrian Martinez, Purdy helped the San Francisco defense simulate Stafford's style during practice as part of the scout team.
When asked what he tells his quarterbacks for such a task, Shanahan had a simple message.
"You tell him to play at a Hall of Fame level, which sometimes they're up to," Shanahan said. "They get the cards, they run their offense, and it's cool because they have an idea of how those plays are run. We run a lot of very similar plays.
"It's been awesome having Brock in there. He's kind of splitting the reps of the scout team with Adrian. But just having two quarterbacks in there, especially Brock, who can make some of these plays, look people off, do some of the things Stafford does, it definitely gets them ready for him.
"Each quarterback's different, but those guys have helped out a lot this week."
When reminded what a rare luxury it is to have someone of Purdy's caliber helping with the scout team, Shanahan smiled.
"No, it's a hell of a deal for us, so it's been a good week," he said.