Joy was everywhere at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night, and Davante Adams was right in the middle of it. The veteran wideout shredded the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with five catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-7 blowout, then casually revealed this is the most fun he has ever had playing football.
After a frustrating detour with the Jets and an up-and-down reunion with Aaron Rodgers, Adams has landed in Los Angeles, where his chemistry with Matthew Stafford has helped push the Rams to 9-2 and the top of the NFC. Winning, and scoring a league-leading 12 touchdown grabs, will do that.
That mood only cranked up when Stafford’s name started echoing around the stadium. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic caught Adams as he was heading out and asked what he thought of the “MVP” chants raining down for his quarterback.
Adams broke into a smile and delivered a line that felt like a mic drop: “Hey, they’re just calling a spade a spade.” He added that Stafford is still the same cold-blooded finisher he has always been, but now playing with a visible joy that the whole locker room feeds off and gives back.
You can see exactly what he means on the field. Stafford diced up Tampa Bay’s defense, got the ball out on time, and trusted Adams in every key situation. The connection produced two early scores, tilted the game script immediately, and turned the second half into a coronation.
For a fan base that once watched Stafford punish the Rams from Detroit, chanting for him as an MVP candidate in Los Angeles feels like a full-circle moment.
All of this is happening while the roster is far from full strength. Right tackle Rob Havenstein and tight end Tyler Higbee are on injured reserve with ankle issues, joining safety Quentin Lake on the shelf after elbow surgery.
As Sean McVay noted earlier in the week, those are long-tenured pillars of the offense, and their absence has forced the staff to lean even harder on Adams, Puka Nacua, and a retooled supporting cast.
So when Adams shrugs at MVP chants and says people are simply telling the truth, it lands differently. He has seen what great quarterback play looks like and what a miserable offense feels like.
Currently, he has the first without the second, on a team that is winning big and having fun while doing it. If Stafford keeps dealing and Adams keeps dancing in the end zone, those chants are only going to get louder.
