The bright lights on a primetime stage haven't been kind to Matthew Stafford of late, which is somewhat problematic, considering his new team's location and championship-or-bust expectations.
For a second consecutive week, the 33-year-old quarterback was unable to produce a winning performance for the Los Angeles Rams, as he threw for a season-low 243 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in an ugly 31-10 loss to the rival San Francisco 49ers on Monday at Levi's Stadium.
"I think Matthew basically needs to do what Mahomes has done, and that's, reel it in a little bit, make better decisions with the ball in his hands," former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann told the Reiter Than You show on Tuesday. "There's no question Matthew has a great arm, but you have to make better decisions with the ball in your hand...
"Matthew needs to make better decisions with the ball in his hands, overall. Sometimes at that position -- we've seen it happen on a number of occasions and I found myself doing it -- you take on a lot of the responsibility and think you have to make every play. And you don't."
In the Rams' Week 9 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Stafford committed two first-half turnovers, one of which was a pick-six. Much to the Rams' chagrin, he repeated the exact same mistakes against San Francisco, and dug them into an early 14-point hole. Following the game, Stafford owned up to the blunders, and called his second interception "uncharacteristic."
The Rams have scored 26 points in their last two games, their second-fewest in a two-game span under head coach Sean McVay, per ESPN Stats & Info. Perhaps the franchise can find solace in the fact that they still rank sixth in the league in average yards, seventh in average points, and seventh in point differential.
Los Angeles (7-3), which still owns the fifth-seed in the NFC playoff picture, has entered its Week 11 bye, and will visit the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 28. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Rams currently have an 86-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 17-percent chance to win the NFC West.
The entire NFL conversation between Theismann and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.