With the Lions 1-7 coming into Sunday’s away game in Minnesota, I can’t say I was expecting much from the Lions. Well, I guess I should say, “with the Lions as bad as they’ve been for the past decade, I wasn’t expecting much.” But seriously, there’s no miraculous eight game winning streak to sneak into the playoffs. There’s probably no beating Brett Favre, on the road no less.
What I was most interested in this Sunday was how No. 1 pick, Matthew Stafford, responded to last week’s puke-inducing five interception day. You can tell a lot about a player with the way they respond to a potentially confidence shattering performance like the one Stafford had in Seattle in Week 9.
Stafford responded like a man.
Stafford was 29-51 for 224 yards and a touchdown. What might be the most important stat after five last week was Stafford’s doughnut in the INT column this week. And I imagine it wasn’t very easy to do.
Stafford was pressured all day long by the Vikings front four, endless LB blitzes, and an inept offensive line did not make things any easier on Stafford. He was sacked just three times, but he was hit nearly 20 times throughout the course of the game.
But Stafford was never phased. He stood in the pocket, as long as he possibly could before getting blown up, and made smart decisions with the football. Despite the constant heat, Stafford still completed 29 passes and he should have had 5-6 more if it weren’t for drops by his wide receivers.
Big Al over at The Wayne Fontes Experience has a good piece that brings together some quotes that really shed light on just how respectable of a game Stafford had today, despite the 17 point loss:
Towards the end of my running diary I called Stafford the “one bright spot” in what was a dreary afternoon for Lions fans:
There’s one bright spot today. Stafford has thrown the ball 51 times, but zero picks. After the 5 pick horror, that’s progress. I’m not going to pin much blame on Stafford for the loss. If anything, the rookie proved he’s willing to stand up under pressure, and throw the ball while taking a great deal of punishment.
Michael Rosenberg said as much in his Freep post game column:
But this isn’t about his arm. It is about his toughness. The Vikings hit the rookie everywhere but his paycheck — by the end of the game, his left shoulder pad was hanging out of his jersey and he was out of breath at the line of scrimmage.
Yet he never looked scared, not for a second.
So did Killer Kowaslski at Mlive:
This is not the season for Stafford to put up gaudy numbers or engineer a lot of wins, there’s just not enough help around him to do it. But what Stafford has done so far this season is show he’s got the toughness and the leadership it takes to be a successful quarterback in the NFL.
You have to believe the lockerroom is behind him 110% after a game like that. I’m very excited to see this kid continue to grow as the leader of the Detroit Lions. Kudos, Matthew Stafford!
Then there’s guys you can’t respect. Meet Ray Edwards, the same guy who was suspended for steroids in 2007.
This might sound like sour grapes, but I assure you it’s far from it. Ray Edwards is trash. Yes, he dominated the Lions today, but the head-to-head hit he put on Stafford, which landed him a roughing the passer penalty, was straight-up DIRTY.
Have a look (via Buster Sports):
All I have to say after watching that replay over-and-over again is Ray Edwards is lucky. He’s lucky his teammate got to Stafford first and moved Stafford, so Edwards helmet grazed Stafford’s facemask as opposed to being a straight on blow to his head.
I’m troubled by this hit because a) it’s illegal b) this type of dirty hit can ruin a guy’s career. The last thing Stafford needs in his rookie season, a week after he threw five interceptions, and was just injured recently, is a concussion to further eff with his confidence level. Obviously, Edwards isn’t concerned with Stafford’s “confidence level,” but nobody should be out there purposely laying dirty hits on people to injure them. That’s the type of blatantly illegal hit that changes careers for the worst.
Brad Childress and Edwards didn’t agree with the call and I can’t fathom that. They should both be happy he didn’t fully land the hit and didn’t injure Stafford. If it had, Edwards could have expected at least the second suspension in his NFL career. And who knows, maybe he still will.
Yes, the Lions blocker appears to cut Edwards, which would force anyone with athletic instincts to jump, but that doesn’t mean he has to lunge forward and lead with his helmet in the direction of Stafford’s head. It’s illegal in the NFL for a reason and it was flagged for a reason. It was trash and Edwards is a punk if he thinks he was in the right.
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