The Lions head to Hollywood this week, ready to take on Jared Goff’s former team; the Los Angeles Rams. Matt Stafford’s ready to host his former squad and the two QBs will go head to head for just the third time since the blockbuster trade. Let’s jump right into this one.
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Game Information
Matchup Information
- Location: SoFi Stadium; Los Angeles, California
- Date: Sunday, December 14th, 2025
- Kickoff: 4:25 PM EST
Quarterback Matchup
- Detroit Lions: Jared Goff (15-2; 2024 – 273.3 YPG | 37 TD | 12 INT)
- Los Angeles Rams: Matt Stafford (10-6; 2024 – 235.1 YPG | 20 TD | 8 INT)
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
Staffy’s Still Slingin’
Matt Stafford is 37 years old and still a top two QB in the NFL. He’s averaging 258.0 pass yards per game (4th), he’s thrown 35 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Stafford’s completing 67% of his passes and has the best passer rating of all QBs this year (113.1). This week he faces the team he was drafted by and the team he played 12 seasons for.
Stafford’s played his former team just twice, splitting the two meetings with 651 total pass yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. He’s thrown the ball 40+ times in both games and Head Coach Sean McVay’s even spoken about how much this game matters.
The Rams offense as a whole averages 29.2 points per game (4th) and convert 66.7% of their redzone trips into touchdowns (3rd). The team’s offensive line has been stellar, ranking 3rd in allowed pressure rate, 2nd in sacks given up and have the league’s highest run blocking grade. Stafford’s been sacked just 17 times this year and it’s helped keep him healthy and throwing touchdowns.
The defense has been elite for the Rams. Los Angeles ranks 3rd in points allowed, 2nd in opponent redzone efficiency and 6th in opponent yards per play. They’ve done a great job of eliminating big plays this year and getting to opposing QBs. The combination of Jared Verse and Byron Young have combined for 17 sacks this year and just terrorized opposing QBs.
The defense ranks 5th in turnovers, forcing 1.6 per game with 13 interceptions and 8 fumble recoveries. They’ve put their offense in good position time and time again and this week they face one of their toughest tests of the year.
Goff Goes Hollywood
Jared Goff’s back in Hollywood and he’s ready to face the team that drafted him. Goff spent the first five years of his career with the Rams, playing in 75 total games for Los Angeles. He had just finished his fifth year with the Rams when he was packaged along side two first round picks and shipped to Detroit. Stafford was on his way to sunny California and Goff was looking forward to a reset in Detroit.
Since the trade, Goff’s had some of his best years with the Lions. This year Goff’s averaging 256.6 pass yards per game, completing 70.1% of his passes and he’s thrown 26 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s looked good this year but we’ve seen him struggle against pressure.
Even with great play from Goff, the story of this Lions’ team is their backfield. Sonic and Knuckles combine for the 5th best rushing offense in the NFL, with both backs averaging 5+ yards per carry. Jahmyr Gibbs has been one of the best RBs in the league this year, averaging 81.7 rush yards per game in addition to 36.5 receiving yards per game. He’s third on the team in targets and getting him the ball has been a priority for this offense.
Detroit’s defense ranks 18th in points allowed this year, 19th in pass yards allowed and 23rd in opponent redzone efficiency. The offense has been great but the defense sometimes has a tough time keeping up. They’ve given up 27+ points in four of their last six games and are coming off back to back games giving up 30.
Sunday’s Best Bets
Puka Nacua o99.5 Receiving Yards (-111) | Lucky Rebel
Puka Nacua is having a season to remember. He’s played in 12 of the Rams’ 13 games, averaging 98.8 yards per game and 7.8 receptions per game. Through just 12 games, Nacua’s already cleared the 1,000 yard mark and has his eyes set on 1,500.
This week Nacua faces a Lions defense that runs man coverage at the highest rate in the NFL. Against man coverage, Nacua ranks 1st in targets per route run, 2nd in yards per route run and 3rd in fantasy points per route run. Detroit also ranks 5th in single-hi coverage and Puka’s averaging 4.68 yards per route run (1st) against that exact coverage.
In last year’s matchup we saw Nacua finish with 4 receptions on 4 targets for just 35 yards. He barely played 30% of the snaps and left early due to a knee injury. Cooper Kupp finished that game with 14 catches on 21 targets for 110 yards. Stafford threw the ball 49 times in that game. This year Nacua’s healthy and he’s the Rams’ new high volume receiver.
Nacua’s seeing the 5th highest target share in the NFL and he’s seeing a 36.2% first read target share. The Lions rank 28th in yards allowed to opposing wideouts and have given up nearly 80% of productions to receivers lined up out wide. Nacua’s ability to be all over the field is why he’s been elite so I’m expecting him to see a ton of volume.
The line is really high, but it’s that high for a reason. Big Puka day incoming.
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