Things did not start out well for the Los Angeles Rams last night, as the defending Super Bowl champs opened their 2022 campaign by getting blown out at home against the Buffalo Bills, 31-10.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford had a rather forgettable evening, completing 29 of 41 pass attempts for 240 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Star wide receiver Cooper Kupp was easily his favorite target, as Stafford looked his way 15 times, completing 13 of those for 128 yards and his lone score of the game
Tight end Tyler Higbee was Stafford’s second-favorite option, turning 11 targets into five receptions for 39 yards. And next was second-year wideout Ben Skowronek, who got six looks, resulting in four catches for 29 yards.
The only other players to receive targets from Stafford were running back Darrell Henderson Jr. (five times), and wide receivers Allen Robinson (two times), Brandon Powell and Tutu Atwell (one time apiece).
For those doing the math at home, that’s 32 of Stafford’s 41 pass attempts going in the direction of his white receiving options, while his black teammates received just nine total targets. And when you look specifically at his black wide receivers, the number is an incredibly low four-pass-attempts in their direction — which equates to a target share under 10 percent.
A lot of football fans probably didn’t think much of it, but there were many on Twitter who were quick to call out Matthew Stafford for being racist and ignoring his ‘open black receivers.’
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Many of those complaining about Stafford’s seemingly racist pass distribution from last night’s loss to the Bills are likely Allen Robinson fantasy football owners. The former Bears wideout was expected to have a big bounce-back season after joining the Rams in free agency, as it was believed that his struggles in 2021 were the result of bad coaching from Matt Nagy and bad quarterbacking from rookie Justin Fields.
One game into his tenure in Los Angeles, however, and it’s beginning to look like maybe last year’s sudden dip in production had more to do with Robinson himself, and less to do with the people around him.
For those who may not remember, Stafford has had plenty of success with black receivers in the past. He helped Calvin Johnson break the single-season receiving record back in 2012. And he’s also built solid rapports with the likes of Kenny Golladay, Golden Tate, Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. throughout the years.
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