Stafford the stud!

[broncosmitty]

Like JR Smith? Or Reggie Miller? (I still like Kobe). When Staffs on its a thing of beauty. No doubt about it. (I'd want Staff if I were you too. I feel comfortable saying that to a fan of most every team tbh)

 

[broncosmitty]

Had a lot of respect for Steve Kerr and Big Shot Bob too. But they were role guys.

 

[Cobiemonster]

As long as Matthew Stafford doesn't have clunkers of games against winnable matchups(I saw this a lot last year), he's really good - he puts up some really big games - I don't always understand the notion that Megatron makes Matthew Stafford good - Megatron is great but if Megatron had a below average QB he wouldn't be getting the catches he normally gets(just like Larry Fitz in Arizona) - so that tells me Matthew Stafford can be really good if he irons out some things and becomes consistently good

 

[RoboticDreams]

Would you rather have Luck or Stafford? Luck is the only young QB that I'd even consider taking over Stafford. Staff is still only what, 25? What he did today was outstanding. He is a gamer.

 

[lionscanWIN]

unfortunately stafford isnt the guy that starts out with 3 or 4, 8 minute drives for TDs hell even the big 4 dont do that every week (see Manning, P. only scoring 7 the 1st half against the skins and 14 against the jaguars-please tell me what manning needs to improve upon). nobody is perfect and stafford doesn't make turds shine the only 2 guys in the last 20 years who have done that consistently are manning and brady; 2 of the best all time.
right now there are only 6 QBs (brees, brady, rodgers, manning, ryan, romo) in the NFL that can feed calvin as well as stafford does and 2 of them are .500 at best. yeah he needs to improve his deep accuracy but he is also the guy with the balls to call his own number with 12 seconds on the clock.

...and Speaking of unfair comparisons, different era's of passing is a bitch but it is also unfair to compare stafford and our deep game with the pathetic offenses of pryor, schaub, locker, and newton 4 teams who are trying their damnedest to bring football back to 1970. the best of them newton has completed 18 20 + yard throws AKA a little more than half of stafford's 33 completed deep balls much less attempting throws to guys who weren't starting last year. BTW the only guy with more completed deep balls and first downs picked up this year is peyton manning.

would it be nice to see stafford stop making mistakes and hit more 15 yard receptions and work the game better yes.
more importantly do i give a flying fuck after this ungodly amazing game anointing him PIMP FOR LIFE and making me so happy i almost broke my boss's hand? HELL NO

 

[RoboticDreams]

As long as Matthew Stafford doesn't have clunkers of games against winnable matchups(I saw this a lot last year), he's really good - he puts up some really big games - I don't always understand the notion that Megatron makes Matthew Stafford good - Megatron is great but if Megatron had a below average QB he wouldn't be getting the catches he normally gets(just like Larry Fitz in Arizona) - so that tells me Matthew Stafford can be really good if he irons out some things and becomes consistently good

Did Rice make Montana or did Montana make Rice? It was neither. They both went to other teams and were successful, even in their advanced age. Staff and Megatron both need each other. They are both excellent players, who feed one another.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Did Rice make Montana or did Montana make Rice? It was neither. They both went to other teams and were successful, even in their advanced age. Staff and Megatron both need each other. They are both excellent players, who feed one another.

I agree on both points - but I think in this day of age, WR's do need really good QB's to be successful, especially considering how the game is more passing-oriented right now

 

[broncosmitty]

Would you rather have Luck or Stafford? Luck is the only young QB that I'd even consider taking over Stafford. Staff is still only what, 25? What he did today was outstanding. He is a gamer.

He's the only guy Id consider swapping Staff out for. Any other young, high upside QB would have to come with picks or a physical corner. Preferably both. I see polish (not sausage) with Luck(and high quality semi goofy athleticism) that I don't see with anyone outside of the top three QBs in the league. I didn't not expect him to be as capable as he is, already, from the limited sample I saw of him in college at Stanford.

 

[RoboticDreams]

I agree on both points - but I think in this day of age, WR's do need really good QB's to be successful, especially considering how the game is more passing-oriented right now

I agree. I don't think many QB's can feed Megatron the ball as well as Stafford does. Again, be happy you have the kid, he's a game changer.

 

[lionscanWIN]

BTW i forgot to add for stafford; he has 42 completed deep balls this year. more than double newton and a good ways ahead of wilson with 26 before monday night so yep point still stands.

 

[broncosmitty]

As long as Matthew Stafford doesn't have clunkers of games against winnable matchups(I saw this a lot last year), he's really good - he puts up some really big games - I don't always understand the notion that Megatron makes Matthew Stafford good - Megatron is great but if Megatron had a below average QB he wouldn't be getting the catches he normally gets(just like Larry Fitz in Arizona) - so that tells me Matthew Stafford can be really good if he irons out some things and becomes consistently good

Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton got a fair amount of passes his way. And some wins. Including road wins. Back when this franchise hadnt had one if those in three years. (In no way do I want either of them as my starting QB if I can help it though). I couldn't agree more with the bold italicized portion.

 

[Cobiemonster]

I agree. I don't think many QB's can feed Megatron the ball as well as Stafford does. Again, be happy you have the kid, he's a game changer.

I'm not a Lions fan but I agree Lions fans should be happy to have him at QB - I would take him on the Eagles ANY DAY of the week

 

[jayfan]

Did Rice make Montana or did Montana make Rice? It was neither. They both went to other teams and were successful, even in their advanced age. Staff and Megatron both need each other. They are both excellent players, who feed one another.

With all due respect to Stafford, there's no equal footing here. CJ doesn't "need" Stafford half as much as Stafford "needs" CJ.

 

[RoboticDreams]

With all due respect to Stafford, there's no equal footing here. CJ doesn't "need" Stafford half as much as Stafford "needs" CJ.

I disagree. Put Calvin on the Cardinals, not unlike Fitzgerald. I think you should see the point. No matter how great a receiver is, they need the ball passed to them. A receiver is the beneficiary, it's not the other way around.

 

[jayfan]

I disagree. Put Calvin on the Cardinals, not unlike Fitzgerald. I think you should see the point. No matter how great a receiver is, they need the ball passed to them. A receiver is the beneficiary, it's not the other way around.

We've seen CJ without Stafford, and we've seen Stafford without CJ. Trust me, there's no comparison.

 

[broncosmitty]

We've seen CJ without Stafford, and we've seen Stafford without CJ. Trust me, there's no comparison.

Uhhh... Yeah. The Green Bay loss is still fresh in my mind. (I don't blame Staff for it. I expected it to be worse)

 

[Kreton]

With all due respect to Stafford, there's no equal footing here. CJ doesn't "need" Stafford half as much as Stafford "needs" CJ.

I disagree. Look at CJ before Stafford.

CJ averaged 1047 yards per year his first 4 years (without Stafford mostly).
He did not average more than 83.4 yards per game any year.

Since Stafford got healthy and is playing.

CJ is averaging 1833 yards per year and 114.5 ypg. Calvin went from a good receiver to great when Stafford took over.

 

[broncosmitty]

Kreton, talk about cherry picking, geesh. CJ has went over 1600 yards TWICE in his career. The last two seasons. The only other time he went over 1300 yards Stafford was still in college. His three highest yardage seasons are also the only 3 times CJ has played all 16 games. (1964 yards led to four wins,.... Sweet.). You guys are really something else sometimes.

 

[Wazmankg]

I disagree. Put Calvin on the Cardinals, not unlike Fitzgerald. I think you should see the point. No matter how great a receiver is, they need the ball passed to them. A receiver is the beneficiary, it's not the other way around.

I'm not so sure about that. No knock on Stafford but the Lions went 0-16 in 2008 with mostly Dan Orlovsky and some Daunte Clpepper and Jon Kitna under center. Calvin caught 78 for just under 1331 yards and 12 TDs. That's 17 yards per catch. The 12 TDs led the league.

 

[Rob]

Stafford is getting the maximum out of Durham. A guy that many on this site didn't like only a month ago, but now it appears he's indispensible as our #2 receiver (maybe #3 when Burleson gets back... maybe). Surround Stafford with talent and he will reveal it. Stafford is showing that great ability to make a lowly regarded receiver look really good.

Certainly Stafford gotten good results out of the highly regarded talent he's had. Titus looked amazing when motivated (and not crazy). Burleson is as good as he's ever been when he's not broken. Broyles looked like NFL talent during the few plays he's ever been around to make.

Stafford's been trying to make Pettigrew a great player for years now, and it is never going to happen, because Pettigrew is simply an average receving tight end (and knucklehead). Stafford has been putting Pettigrew in position to make plays over and over and over for 5 years.

Stafford is a decent guy by all accounts. Stafford has always had a strong arm. He has shown us he's a leader. He has stayed healthy long enough so we don't cringe when he gets hit anymore. He has consistently put up big numbers game after game, season after season. Stafford moves the chains unlike any Lions QB I've ever seen. He beats up bad defenses. He has shown us the ability to come back and win games. When was his last truly terrible (Freeman/Ponder/Weeden-esque) game? At Chicago in the wind with a glove on coming back from a broken hand? That is pretty consistent from game to game. He has put us in the playoffs in a tough division and he's poised to do it again this season.

What is missing?

Stafford's last hurdle towards greatness is a slight correction in consistency within each game. Can he come out of the gates throwing darts from the first quarter all through the game (see Aaron Rodgers)? Can he put touch on short passes consistently so his guys can run after the catch? Will he reduce the 1 or 2 head-slapping bad decisions he makes almost every week?

Stafford is really close to elite, IMO.