Matt Stafford is the suckiest suck to ever suck

[fontes91]

Given Rogers is 32-33, Brees and Brady are ancient, and Stafford is still young, is there any qb you'd trade him for straight up - looking long-term? Cam? Wilson? Carr? Ryan? Luck? Dak? Winston?

I think Stafford is just into his prime and may be becoming something special. I'd probably think long and hard about Wilson, Newton, Luck and Winston......but I might just choose Stafford.

[CGVT]

I don't know.

I think Cam's act will wear thin with his team and the fans. Wilson is looking like injuries may be a factor, same with Luck. Too early to tell with Dak.

Winston may be the best of the bunch,

[chemiclord]

I don't think it is that clear cut, the Lion offense was excellent at times last year with Calvin after Lombardi was given the ziggy. If you placed CJ on this team right now, the offense is much better.

Plus, they did sign Marvin Jones and Boldin. They signed Boldin after DanO made his pronouncements. The signing if Boldin has been in the words of Joe Biden, a BFD.

Their record is certainly better, and a lot of that (hell I'd say most of that) is because Stafford has really escalated his play, and if you want to argue that's because CJ is no longer there and as a result Stafford has had to play smarter... there's no data I can throw at you that can say you're wrong.

But yes, if you want to get into a completely empirical advanced metric analysis, the Lions offense is pretty much right where they were the second half of last year, and the major difference is the lack of turnovers and the defense at least not being an absolute dumpster fire (and the last few weeks has been pretty damn good at that).

So I'm gonna let DanO have this one. He was right, at least that Stafford has been better without Calvin. If you could take Calvin Johnson of last year and drop him onto this team... yes, they'd be even better still. But would we have this iteration of Stafford if CJ was still around? I dunno.

[Topweasel]

I don't know.

I think Cam's act will wear thin with his team and the fans. Wilson is looking like injuries may be a factor, same with Luck. Too early to tell with Dak.

Winston may be the best of the bunch,

Honestly you'd have to think about Wilson, Cam is intriguing but at this point Stafford is better (I would have said that after second half of last season). Rodgers has several years of play left in him. Carr, Dak, Bortles, Cousins, Winston, and the dude from Tenn need maturing and even the best of them (Carr and Cousins) you are getting a ceiling that is more like average Stafford. Luck at this point is coming off as looking like a downgrade.

Really just Rodgers and Wilson.

It's funny looking at Stafford after his first two seasons. I think he is only behind Eli for current consecutive starts streaks. From China Doll to Iron Man.

[LionsFanInJapan]

Credit Judo.

[CGVT]

Credit Judo.

Ha! I forgot about that.

Who was it that suggested that?

[LionsFanInJapan]

I don't even remember, but it's obviously been the key.

[CGVT]

Obviously. Ha!

[dpatnod]

No need.

This thread was nothing but a troll of the He Man Stafford Haters Club.

As a matter of fact, it still is.

Scoreboard.

It's a beautiful thing.

[LionsFanInJapan]

Just for you, man.

[Malto Marko]

Nonsense.




This sounds like you're giving credit to everyone but Caldwell. It'd be nice if all the "haters" finally concede that he's doing a pretty good job up until now.

Go Lions!

Well you are correct in as much as I do believe that the tough game time decisions this year are more a result of the supporting staff than his own.

However, he does have to be given huge credit for putting a competitive team on the field with all of the injuries he has had to deal with. I know that is directly proportional to the backups he has but, he has plunked the right guys in at the right time.

[Niffla]

Matt is playing as good as any quarterback in the league, period. He's playing the epitome of winning football. He's not making mistakes. He's making plays on third down. He's been clutch. He's being a leader.

This is his team now, and he is taking the challenge head on. And the rest of the team is following.

[Wellington_beefhouser]

Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Brett Farve all won Super Bowls right around the age Stafford is right now (27-32). Guys like Steve Young, John Elway, and Peyton won in their mid thirties (33-36). As much as I dislike categorizing Stafford because everybody is different, I feel like he fits into the first category of QBs better than the latter. The main thing is we need to lock this badass down long term cause he is right in his prime.

[jaadam4]

Great points all around. I think the biggest step forward Stafford has made is that he's made players around him better with his play. The last 3-4 years a lot of people including myself have seen how Brady, Brees and the great ones aren't always throwing to 1st round WR or when those teams had injuries they'd just continue to sling no matter who was catching the ball.

In the past if we lost a weapon it would basically cut us down and the Lions wouldn't find any sync. This last weekend is prime example. Marvin Jones is out and Stafford didn't miss a beat. Ebron went down early in the year. Tate wasn't performing for long stretches. It didn't matter because Stafford would find someone else and kept winning games.

That right there is the difference between playing for stats and playing for wins.

[HenryTheDeuce]

Matt is playing as good as any quarterback in the league, period. He's playing the epitome of winning football. He's not making mistakes. He's making plays on third down. He's been clutch. He's being a leader.

This is his team now, and he is taking the challenge head on. And the rest of the team is following.

Yes.

He is the first real leader this team has had since Joe Schmidt and Bobby Lane. Seriously.

Barry was great but not a leader. Same with Calvin.

We've had some decent players here and there, but Stafford is the man Lions fans have been waiting for since Bobby Lane.