Same Old Song For Lions: If Stafford Stays Healthy...
If you had to boil the 2011 season down to one sentence for the Lions it might go something like this: As long as quarterback Matthew Stafford stays healthy, the Lions have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs.
It really is as simple as that.
The entire offense is built to complement his powerful and accurate arm as well as his beyond-his-years command of the offense. When he's on the field, the Lions are usually in a position to win.
In the three games he played last season before two shoulder injuries knocked him out, the Lions won one and were ahead in the other two when he got hurt.
"The quarterback is in his third year," said center Dominic Raiola. "I think that's the biggest thing we've got going for us. What people are forgetting, yeah, he's older and smarter, but he's hungry. He really feels that. He wants to put this city on his back and win and he wants to do it for a lot of people -- for the guys in this locker room, for the organization, for the fans, and he wants to validate their reasons for drafting him first.
"He feels that responsibility. It's not pressure. He just really wants to be good."
After missing more games (19) than he's played (13) his first two seasons, Stafford has come back physically stronger from his offseason shoulder surgery and his command of the offense has never been more complete.
"I don't think the injury humbled him, I think it (ticked) him off," Raiola said. "I don't think anybody's happy being injured, but in his case, being the first pick of the draft, it (ticked) him off watching. We all know his talent and his smarts. But he's working extremely hard -- not that he didn't before -- and he's hungry, extra hungry."
He is the unquestioned leader of the offense.
"Matt's having more fun, but personally, I think he's become so much more of a leader," said wide receiver Nate Burleson. "He's talking a lot more, taking more control. In his ability to make throws in tight spaces, he's one of the best in the league. A prime example was the touchdown I had (in the preseason against the Patriots). I ran the route not thinking he's gonna throw it, and he zipped it right behind the defensive back's neck. There's not a lot of quarterbacks that can make that throw physically, or have enough guts to take that chance."
Stafford's improved health and mood has generated a renewed energy on this offense. Once Stafford took a couple of hits in the exhibition season and sprung back up, the entire organization seemed to sigh in relief.
"When that (New England) linebacker hit him in the chest, I said, 'Hey, you all right?'" Raiola said. "He said, 'Great, I've been wanting to feel that all preseason!'
"Joking aside, he's been great. He knows it all, and I'm not saying he acts that way - he really does know it all. He knows what's going on, he's super attentive, he's everything you want in a franchise quarterback."
Last season, after the team had lost 10 of its first 12 games, Schwartz closed a press conference by saying, "There are great things ahead for this football team." Those great things were predicated on having a healthy Stafford at quarterback.
Stafford's mastery of the offense and his overall efficiency this preseason, has lent a belated gravity to Schwartz's proclamation.
SERIES HISTORY
54th regular-season meeting. Lions lead the series, 28-25, and are coming off an improbable 23-20 overtime win in Tampa last season. The win snapped the Lions' 26-game road losing streak and helped knock the Bucs, who finished 10-6, out of the playoffs. The Lions went on to win their final four games of the regular season. The teams, former divisional foes in the old NFC Central, have met once in the playoffs -- 1997 with the Bucs winning 20-10.
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