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Bottom line: Elite quarterbacks don't play like Matthew Stafford did Sunday at Chicago
There are plenty of excuses that could be made for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford's poor performance Sunday in Chicago.
His finger injury. Difficult and different playing conditions. Not only does the wind swirl constantly coming off Lake Michigan at Soldier Field, but the track is really slow. The players surrounding Stafford made two big mistakes before the game really started.
But none of them fit if Stafford is, indeed, a top-tier NFL QB. The best quarterbacks don't give into the moment that easily.
Stafford did. He just fell apart. It was remindful of Scott Mitchell in 19990s. He was fine, as long as everything else around him was OK.
The best QBs shake off injuries. Brett Favre was the classic example, but the best also belong in the list with Favre.
The top QBs pick everybody else up when they are down. They don't get the deer-in-the-headlights look like Stafford had in the second half Sunday.
A harsh judgment? Sure. But I think Stafford can truly be a top NFL QB. To become that, there isn't much wiggle room. It's arguably the toughest position in sports to master, and doing so involves everything from extraordinary patience in the line of football fire to exceptional toughness both physically and mentally.
We've seen enough from Stafford already to know he possesses those qualities, but he clearly didn't display them Sunday in Chicago.
His finger injury. Difficult and different playing conditions. Not only does the wind swirl constantly coming off Lake Michigan at Soldier Field, but the track is really slow. The players surrounding Stafford made two big mistakes before the game really started.
But none of them fit if Stafford is, indeed, a top-tier NFL QB. The best quarterbacks don't give into the moment that easily.
Stafford did. He just fell apart. It was remindful of Scott Mitchell in 19990s. He was fine, as long as everything else around him was OK.
The best QBs shake off injuries. Brett Favre was the classic example, but the best also belong in the list with Favre.
The top QBs pick everybody else up when they are down. They don't get the deer-in-the-headlights look like Stafford had in the second half Sunday.
A harsh judgment? Sure. But I think Stafford can truly be a top NFL QB. To become that, there isn't much wiggle room. It's arguably the toughest position in sports to master, and doing so involves everything from extraordinary patience in the line of football fire to exceptional toughness both physically and mentally.
We've seen enough from Stafford already to know he possesses those qualities, but he clearly didn't display them Sunday in Chicago.
posted by Pat Caputo at
10:20 AM
3 Comments:
Bottom line is that they looked like the Lions of old. More of the same is expected the next few weeks.
Kinda harsh but why didn't they replace him if he had a fractured finger in his throwing hand? He does need to work on his count down release into the flat or short, he releases too quickly and throws absolutely lousy, darn thing is going to be intercepted one of these days.
Schedule is tough the rest of the way - (2) Green Bay, Minnesota, New Orleans, San Diego,etc.
Oh please, typical over-reaction. Stafford had a bad game, so what, it happens. Do you remember Roethlisberger's 6 turnover effort week 1 against Baltimore? How about Brady's 4 interception performance against Buffalo. Does anyone remember Drew Brees losing to sub-500 Seattle in the playoffs. Caputo, there is some animosity happening with you and Stafford. You have been on his case constantly for the last month. Why? The Lions are 6-3. I never expected them to beat the Bears in Chicago. The Bears are too good of a team. Green Bay may be the ONLY team in the league that could go into Soldier Field and win right now. Stafford will rebound and get better. The Lions will get better. They have no running game, look at what happened to the Ravens Sunday with no running game. As a young QB he needs a running game. They are a 9-7 team this year and that is definite progress.
Alan
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