Here’s the whole Matthew Stafford question answered in a nutshell. 2008 they go 016 with the worst D in their history, draft the kid out of Georgia and 12-years later, he’s no savior. BUT fact is, with an EVEN WORSE D they win 5 games. That’s Stafford’s value in a nutshell to me.
Check my facts and tell me if I made any of them up:
Long before he arrived, the Lions sucked. Then he gets here and on 12 teams EACH built by FIRST-TIME GMs and run by rookie HC’s with consistently bottom half defenses and bottom third ground games (30th ranked this year) he makes you forget how bad the teams really are. And we expect to win more; the same way that when the Lions are down by 1 score with 60 seconds left in the game and Stafford has the ball, we expect to win those too! Think about how ridiculous those odds are. But this guy makes you forget that 95% of the playoff contenders in NFL History have top half defenses and running games. And 95% of the SB teams have top third both. Lions have only broken top half in either once in the last 20 years! Yes 20. Long before Stafford arrived.
Stafford is no savior. But if our D or ground attack was good for winning a handful of games/year, we’d always be in contention. Turns out that football actual is a team sport.
Yeah. And to really back up your point, take a look at what Carroll is doing in Seattle. For argument sake, let’s just agree that Wilson is a better QB than Stafford. Well, that better QB alone isn’t enough. It takes team and scheme and Carroll isn’t seeing what he wants from his OC so he cans him.
The Rams Defense dominated the Seahawks 3 times this year. Carroll fired the OC to try to take the heat off of him and Wilson. Those 2 should be looking in the mirror, it wasn’t just the OC.
Good point. That defense has exposed Seattle’s weakness at assembling a solid O-Line. That has to be P1 for them each off-season… to build an OLine fit to handle Donald and the Rams.
This was a point i was making about Schnieder in Detroit. He helped build a super bowl team…and it bought him a lot of grace…that OL is bad…and has been bad for a few years…
I assume you will miss Stafford because you are leaving to root for another team. It is obvious what Stafford means to this team and how valuable he is. Just think about this for a minute - If Stafford has the ball within a score and a minute left we expect to win. Name another QB in the history of the game where people felt this way!
Seattle was missing what worked so well for them in their two Super Bowl appearances…a bell-cow RB. Carson is a nice back, but he is no workhorse. What Seattle needs, IMO, is a Derrick Henry-type RB
Joe Namath, John Elway, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Daryl Harmonica, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Johnny Unitas, etc.
Someday, somewhere, someone will remember the position of a “Fullback” and think to themselves, “Hey, this could keep my Franchise Quarterback from getting murdered! What an idea!”
You don’t trade your best player and expect better results Charley Casserly on NFL Network said he’s talked to numerous GM’s and none say they would trade Stafford unfortunately Stafford doesn’t rush the passer doesn’t tackle doesn’t cover wide receivers or tight ends as stated earlier it is a team sport
The majority of the guys you listed weren’t even good in this area. Manning, Brady, Unitas & Brees are/were good late, but none of them as good as Stafford. Lamonica 18, Rodgers 17, Namath & Aikman had 15 combacks their entire careers. Staubach & (Young) 13. Lots of guys in good situations win games when they are the superior team, but rarely come back. Most of the guys on this list have played with top defenses which have as much to do with keeping a lead late.
At times I give you too much credit, just don’t smile.
