Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Stafford: the July thread
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July 5, 2021 at 2:58 pm #130748
znModeratorfrom Lions expert breaks down what Rams are getting with Matthew Stafford
* https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-lions-matthew-stafford-trade-analysis-breakdown/
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We talked to Lions Wire managing editor Jeff Risdon about Stafford and gathered some intel on the Rams’ new quarterback. While he doesn’t pin the Lions’ lack of wins in the last 12 years on Stafford, he did point out some weaknesses in the QB’s game.
Aside from clearly having a big arm, what would you say is Stafford’s best trait?
His willingness to trust both that arm and the receivers he’s throwing at to make plays that other QBs won’t consider trying. It never allows the defense to relent because he’s proven he will throw it into an impossibly tiny window, or at least try.
There’s been an argument made that a good portion of Stafford’s numbers come in garbage time when the Lions are getting blown out. Is there any truth to that?
He earned the “Stat Padford” nickname early in his career with a certain segment of the Detroit media and it stuck even though he proved it was largely bullcrap. The fact is, he played on a lot of teams that had very bad defenses, especially during the Matt Patricia era. He’s playing from behind a lot more than the average QB.
Having said that, Stafford has always been prone to cold starts and streaks in games where he’s just “off.” Lions fans got used to him going something like 2-for-8, 27 yards, 1 INT in the second quarter of a game; things like that happen more with Stafford than they should for any QB.
The flip side? Stafford has proven himself to be amazing at rallying in the fourth quarter. He’s 7th in NFL history in 4th-quarter comebacks, tied with John Elway. He’s consistently been at his best with the team down two scores in the fourth quarter.
The Rams use a lot of play-action and rollouts. How does Stafford typically perform on those two play types?
He is not a good rollout passer. His ability to throw a strike to a moving target greatly diminishes if he’s also moving. If he can roll, stop and set himself to throw, he’s fine. He also tends to make the big mistake when he’s on the move, like he doesn’t see the field nearly as well. He is not a guy who will win with his legs on designed runs but he got better at tucking and running in the last few years, especially before the second broken back. He’s smart about it.
Play action, he’s phenomenal. When his RBs sell it well (and that hasn’t been the case often enough), Stafford is great at concealing the ball and then quickly identifying where the hole in the defense emerges. The Lions offense didn’t use it nearly enough.
One other quick quirk: He doesn’t like pre-snap motion, and he’s always had a preference to let the play clock drain way down before calling for the snap. It persisted through all his coaches. He made a comment when Darrell Bevell took over as the OC that he hoped “we’re not motioning guys everywhere” (paraphrased) and he meant it.
There’s about a 6% difference in Stafford’s completion rate from his first 6 seasons to his last 6 seasons. Has there been a notable change in his style of play?
It’s an oversimplification to say he played those first years with Calvin Johnson and then without him. As fabulous as Johnson was – he belongs in the Hall of Fame – he still led the NFL in drops in the decade from 2010-2019 two years after he retired, and he never had a good No. 2 receiver to pair him with. Stafford got more accurate and the confidence in his receivers spiked up when he had several capable receivers on any one play – guys like Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Theo Riddick out of the backfield, Danny Amendola and T.J. Hockenson the last couple of years.
How worried should the Rams be about Stafford’s 0-3 postseason record, and the fact that he only made the playoffs three times in 12 seasons?
Stafford played well enough to win in the 2014 season loss to the Cowboys, a game the Lions had absolutely stolen from them by an officiating controversy. He did not play well in the other playoff games.
As for the lack of team success, it’s very difficult to blame Stafford. He never had a good run game. Detroit had one 1,000-yard rusher in his 12-year career and finished in the bottom five in rushing yards per game and rushing yards per carry more often than they didn’t. The defenses were often just as bad; I’ve been covering the NFL since 2004 and there is zero doubt in my mind the 2020 Lions were the worst-coordinated defense I’ve ever seen. The one year everything really came together for the team (2014) ironically was probably Stafford’s worst – not as good as his numbers might indicate.
July 7, 2021 at 11:19 pm #130787znModeratorKyle Shanahan was recently on the Flying Coach podcast with McVay and Peter Schrager. McVay ribbed Shanahan, asking the Niners coach how he liked the Rams’ new addition.
“You don’t want to get me started, dude,” Shanahan responded. “That was frustrating. I was in Cabo. I was studying it all. … I remember looking through it because everybody was telling me it was a possibility. Stafford’s the man. I studied him hard coming out of college, and you always play against him, so you know how good he is. But to know he might be available and to spend two weeks really watching him, Sean, yeah, he’s better than I realized. He was the man. He’s actually underrated to me. I know how good of a guy you got. I know how good he is at play-action. I know how smart he is. Not only does he just have a big arm, but he’s got touch, he knows where to go with the ball. So I was trying to get involved in it.
“… I remember Saturday I was so stressed out and finally we talked to someone, it was seven at night, and they’re like, ‘No, nothing’s happening (with a trade) at the earliest until tomorrow, so you can finish your night.’ So I’m like, alright, I’m done. I put my phone down, talk to Mandy. I’m like, alright, ‘Let’s go out to dinner, let’s have some drinks.’ Half an hour later, my buddy calls me and is like, ‘I’m just telling ya, if you want Stafford, you need to get a hold of him right now.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean? We just talked to people. I can sleep on this. We’ll talk to them tomorrow.’ ‘I’m just telling you, you need to talk to him right now.’ And then it was all over.”
July 8, 2021 at 12:38 pm #130793znModeratorMatthew Stafford Is Overrated
The Los Angeles Rams will be disappointed with the results with Matthew Stafford under center.https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/matthew-stafford-is-overrated
It is not an uncommon phenomenon.
Sports fans tend to romanticize and overhype professional athletes, and Detroit is no different.
In the case of former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, supporters fell in love with the traits he possessed that they could identify with — playing through pain, being a great teammate, not bashing the organization publicly and his big arm.
But, in the world of professional sports, the bottom line is results.
The narrative that Stafford did not have enough talent around him is laughable.
The organization surrounded him with talented wideouts, and it built a defense that was among the best in the National Football League in 2014.
No football team is built perfectly, and the organization needed Stafford to do more to help get the Lions over the hump in the playoffs. It never occurred.
While many choose to focus on the bad calls during the Cowboys playoff game, many forget the offense went cold the final three quarters of the game. With an opportunity late in the game to seal the victory, Stafford and the offense came up short.
Too many times, in the biggest of moments, Stafford turned the ball over or threw a pick-six that altered the momentum in the opponents’ favor.
Max Kellerman of ESPN drew a lot of criticism when he called Stafford overrated on an episode of “First Take.”
“Stafford’s a good quarterback, but he’s overrated … you’re the No. 1 overall pick. What have you done? How many times have you won the division? Zero. Okay, how many times have you won a playoff game? Zero … Have you ever been to a Pro Bowl? One as an alternate. Now, how are you paid? As though you’re maybe the best quarterback in football.”
July 8, 2021 at 12:38 pm #130794znModeratorIs it football season yet?
Best of Matthew Stafford from the 2020 season! pic.twitter.com/tBWA50ig0D
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 8, 2021
July 8, 2021 at 8:28 pm #130797
InvaderRamModeratori honestly don’t know what to think.
i disagree with the post above saying that stafford had plenty of help. wide receivers and a good defense for one season is not much help. at the same time, could he have been better? i don’t know. honestly, i barely watched the guy play.
i guess we’ll find out soon enough.
July 8, 2021 at 9:28 pm #130798znModeratori honestly don’t know what to think.
i disagree with the post above saying that stafford had plenty of help. wide receivers and a good defense for one season is not much help. at the same time, could he have been better? i don’t know. honestly, i barely watched the guy play.
i guess we’ll find out soon enough.
I think he’s good and he did not often have a defense or a running game (and mostly he had both deficiencies at the same time).
July 8, 2021 at 11:00 pm #130800
ZooeyModeratorThe Lions biggest problems had nothing to do with Matthew Stafford. That is obvious.
Looks to me like another sports journalist trying very hard to stake out original territory in order to stand apart from the herd. I don’t buy it. We see good teams with poor QBs all the time. They are good teams with poor QBs.
That isn’t the Lions.
July 11, 2021 at 3:48 pm #130832znModeratorfrom Bucky Brooks, TOP FIVE: Most underrated players in 2021: https://www.nfl.com/news/what-nfl-can-learn-from-tampa-bay-lightning-s-back-to-back-titles-five-most-unde?campaign=Twitter_atn
If you have not listened to the most recent “Flying Coach” podcast with Peter Schrager and Sean McVay, you are missing out on a great conversation between a couple of quarterback gurus, as Kyle Shanahan joined his NFC West counterpart’s show to discuss all things football.
One of the most interesting discussions centered on Matthew Stafford, who, of course, just relocated from the Lions to McVay’s Rams this offseason. Although the former No. 1 overall pick is regularly lauded for his arm talent, Shanahan and McVay both believe the veteran deserves more credit for his overall ability and accomplishments as a player.
“Stafford’s the man,” Shanahan said on the pod. “I studied him hard coming out of college, and you always play against him, so you know how good he is. But to know he might be available and to spend two weeks really watching him, Sean, yeah, he’s better than I realized. He was the man. He’s actually underrated to me. I know how good of a guy you got. I know how good he is at play-action. I know how smart he is. Not only does he just have a big arm, but he’s got touch, he knows where to go with the ball.”
Wow! You rarely hear a coach rave about an opposing player like that unless there is a tremendous amount of respect. The effusive praise coming from Shanahan not only prompted me to re-examine Stafford’s game, but it sent me on a mission to find other players who deserve more recognition for their play between the lines.
Given some time to survey the league and poll a few folks on which players are really underrated in our game, I’ve come up with a list of the five most underrated players in the league today:
Rank 1
Matthew Stafford
Los Angeles Rams · QBThe veteran quarterback has always been regarded as one of the most naturally talented passers in the league, but few observers rank Stafford as a top-five quarterback. Despite posting impressive numbers for a downtrodden franchise — including 38 game-winning drives and 31 fourth-quarterback comebacks during his Detroit tenure — No. 9 has not received much recognition as a premier player at the position. That should change with Stafford teaming up with Sean McVay to direct an offense with explosive scoring potential due to the structure and personnel. Given more weapons and a creative play-caller, the one-time Pro Bowler could finally earn MVP talk from the football world.
July 11, 2021 at 3:52 pm #130833znModeratorBucky Brooks: “Given more weapons and a creative play-caller, the one-time Pro Bowler could finally earn MVP talk from the football world.”
Not to mention–given a good defense (MS had that with the Lions only 3 out of 12 years). And, given a good running game (measured by yards per carry MS had that with the Lions only 1 out of 12 years).
And give the fact that the Rams have played from behind far, far less than MS did in Detroit.
All these things add up.
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July 13, 2021 at 7:18 am #130870znModeratorHe’s always been talented, but Stafford is now being vaulted into the conversation as a top-10 quarterback. Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire sees him as just that, ranking him No. 9 on his list of the best quarterbacks in football.
There is a case to be made that all of the throws and plays that Patrick Mahomes makes on a weekly basis were things that Matthew Stafford was doing during his time with the Detroit Lions. On a traits basis, Stafford remains one of the most talented passers in the league. His ability to make any throw to any level of the field, as well as how he can drop the arm slot to adjust to pressure in his face and/or off the edge, is an elite trait that keeps him atop lists like this one.
Schofield argues that in McVay’s system that’s filled with play action and misdirection, it “could lead to some of the best football of Stafford’s career.”
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