Tom Krasovic: Matthew Stafford is healthy, so don’t count out Rams

Matthew Stafford’s back held up fine.

Meaning: the Rams stay on the short list of Super Bowl contenders.

A back ailment caused the 37-year-old quarterback to sit out more summer practices than he normally does, but the old dude was neither creaky nor rusty Sunday.

Stafford and a pushy Rams defense drove the 14-9 season-opening victory against the Texans in a duel between 2024 division winners at the Kroenke Dome.

Winning openers isn’t a new thing under coach Sean McVay — he’s 7-2  — but maybe this season the Rams won’t make things so hard on themselves.

In the past two years, they fell three games under .500 before rallying to get a wild-card playoff spot. If Stafford’s much-battered body can allow him to move as he did Sunday and late last season, when he nearly authored a road upset of the Super Bowl-victory-bound Eagles, the offense ought to have fewer bad games than it did last year.

The QB’s niftiness in the boot-and-rollout game unlocks the offense, and was evident Sunday against a very good Texans defense.

The best one: Stafford faked a handoff, rolled to his left and got off a quick touch throw to tight end Cody Allen, who collected it as he veered to the end zone’s back left corner with two defenders behind him.

The touchdown, from 13 yards, lifted the Rams to a 14-9 lead in the third quarter.

Nevertheless the Texans, inside of two minutes, had a good shot at scoring a go-ahead touchdown.

Enter linebacker Nate Landman, signed in March for the veteran’s minimum salary of $1.1 million.

Closing fast on a pass-catcher, the ex-Falcon punched the ball from Texans fullback Dare Ogunbowale at L.A.’s 18, and Rams lineman Braden Fiske recovered it.

Among Rams old dudes, it wasn’t only Stafford who showed he’s still got it,

Receiver Davante Adams, 32, who joined the team in March, found his groove in the second half, shaking off All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. a few times and making an A+ catch with a diving pluck.

No one had a better overall game than Puka Nacua.

The 212-pound receiver lifted the offense as a receiver, a blocker and a decoy in both those roles.

Top defensive honors went to Rams outside linebacker Byron Young, who exploited a rookie tackle a few times and made other plays.

Further proof that Stafford’s summer hiatuses didn’t cause the Rams any major problems, McVay and Stafford leaned hard on the passing game.

That backfired once. When a Rams victory seemed close to certain, a Texans linebacker jarred the ball from tight end Colby Parkinson, creating a turnover off a completion.

But, after Landman and Fiske got the ball back, McVay didn’t back down. On third-and-8, he call for another pass when a handoff wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

Stafford hit Nacua. Freed up by a clever play design and his dual threat as a blocker and receiver, Nacua gained 24 yards, reaching midfield.

It wasn’t too soon to glean a larger narrative for each team. The Texans, who lacked one projected starter in their offensive linem and saw two other blocker leave the game, haven’t solved their pass-protection issues that were glaring last year and led to a major personnel overhaul.

The Rams actually had a very good training camp at QB, where Jimmy Garoppolo 33, got plenty of snaps, improving the odds that if Stafford needs relief, he’ll be ready.