Stafford Getting Primed For Regular Season
This is why head coach Jim Schwartz said what he said last year when the Lions were 2-10. This is why he told a stunned media gathering, "I see great things for this football team, great things."
The reason for his optimism was that Matthew Stafford was still his quarterback. He was hurt at the time, but Schwartz has always known what he has in this strong-armed, strong-minded kid from Dallas.
Stafford is healthy now and validating Schwartz's faith every time he steps under center.
In the 34-10 romp over New England Saturday, the Lions' third straight exhibition win, Stafford put on a clinic. Before a national network television audience and a sold-out Ford Field, he led the Lions to three scoring drives (17 points) in five drives. Playing less than a half, he completed 12 of 14 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
"We did a good job," Stafford said. "They were in an aggressive defense so we were going to be an aggressive offense. It worked out for us. We are playing mistake-free as far as turnovers go and when we do that, we are going to have a chance to be in games. We have some explosive guys on the outside and if we can just get them the ball, we can be real productive."
Stafford stymied the Patriots' defense by executing a hurry-up offense right out of the gate.
"That is part of our offense," Schwartz said. "We practice it every day. It's just something we do. When you have a quarterback that can handle the line of scrimmage and you have smart players that can handle it, it can put you in good positions. It's a weapon we can use."
Stafford connected on a 9-yard touchdown pass to Nate Burleson in the first quarter and then threw a 22-yard dart to tight end Tony Scheffler in the second. One of his two incomplete passes was dropped by Burleson in the end zone.
The 22-yarder to Scheffler was set up by a 30-yard completion to Calvin Johnson. On that play, Stafford was hit hard by Jerod Mayo as he was releasing the ball. It was the first true lick he's faced this preseason. He not only hung in and completed the throw - though it was well underthrown and Johnson made an alert play to come back for it - but he also got right back up and ran the next play.
"You judge a quarterback by his ability to get you in a good play, make good decisions, throw accurate passes and lead you to scores," Schwartz said. "He's done that."
Here's how good Stafford has been this preseason: In three games, he's 24 for 31 for 356 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating is 154.
It was the third straight game the Lions have scored at least 30 points, which means, again, all four units are scoring. Stafford, Shaun Hill (who hit Aaron Brown on a 9-yard touchdown pass), Drew Stanton (4-yard touchdown to Derrick Williams) and Zac Robinson are a combined 68 for 100 in three games, for 888 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception.
"Obviously we have some offensive firepower to do that," Schwartz said. "What you like is that it's coming from all four groups. We are getting a lot of production from a lot of people."
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