INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford became the 10th quarterback in NFL history to pass for 60,000 yards, reaching the mark with a 6-yard throw to wide receiver Puka Nacua in the fourth quarter of Los Angeles' 14-9 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Stafford tied Matt Ryan (223 games) as the second-fastest player to hit the milestone. According to NFL Research, only Drew Brees (215) reached the mark in fewer games.
Along with Ryan and Brees, Stafford joined Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Dan Marino and Aaron Rodgers as the only quarterbacks with 60,000 passing yards.
Rams coach Sean McVay called it an "unbelievable" milestone and a "real testament to the consistency of what he's done." Stafford said it "brings back a lot of memories" because he has "been blessed to play this game for a long time with a bunch of great players."
"You get in those longevity-type [conversations] where you're breaking those kinds of things, it's not, 'Oh, that was a cool year or a cool two years,'" Stafford said. "It's been a long time, and a lot of people have sacrificed a lot to help me out along the way, and I appreciate each and every single one of them."
Not long after the completion, Stafford went up to Nacua to tell him he was glad he was the one to catch it. Nacua said he thanked Stafford, but was thinking, "I'm pretty sure the play was supposed to come to me."
"As he says that, I look up on the big screen, it's like, 'Oh, Matthew Stafford has passed 60,000 [passing yards],'" Nacua said. "I'm like, 'Oh, I'm so sorry, brother. I totally missed that. I understand why you said that.'"
Once he realized the significance, Nacua said he was especially grateful that the pass came to him because while Stafford was the quarterback for most of the throws during his record-breaking rookie season, it was backup quarterback Carson Wentz who threw him the record-breaker. Stafford sat out that game as the Rams already had clinched a playoff spot.
"So, it's nice that one of those [records] will have Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua attached to it," Nacua said.
Stafford, who missed a significant portion of training camp while dealing with an aggravated disk in his back, completed 21 of 29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown against the Texans. McVay said while the stat sheet may not necessarily reflect Stafford's performance, the quarterback "was in total command."
"Thought we were at our best when we put the game in his hands while still being smart and having some good balance," McVay said. "But he made a bunch of big time plays and we had to have all of them."
Stafford spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions, amassing 45,109 passing yards during the regular season. In 2021, the Rams traded for Stafford, and the team won Super Bowl LVI in his first season in Los Angeles.
Stafford has started his team's season opener in all 17 of his NFL seasons, which is tied with Fran Tarkenton for the fourth-longest streak by a quarterback since 1950, according to ESPN Research. He trails Brees (19), Rodgers (18) and Favre (18).