The former No. 1 overall pick back in 2009, Stafford has been quite a puzzle to solve in Detroit. For his first two seasons in the league, he was injury prone, unable to stay on the field for an entire year, and we wondered whether he would ever suit for a full 16-game slate.
Then Stafford quieted his critics. In 2011, playing in all 16 games, he threw for 41 touchdowns and led the Lions to the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.
Since then, Stafford has bordered on that line between a top-level NFL quarterback and simply a statistical phenom that’s unable to lift his team any further than .500. With a big arm and the likes of Calvin Johnson at his side, Stafford’s numbers represent a passer you’d expect to be among the top eight in terms of yardage and touchdowns each season. But since he was drafted, Detroit is 32-41 with Stafford under center with zero playoff wins.
This year has been an anomaly. With Jim Caldwell taking over as head coach for Jim Schwartz, the usually dynamic Stafford has been relegated to a game manager, which has translated into the Lions being two wins away from just their second 10-win season since 1995. Is he a gunslinger or a game manager? We still can’t figure it out.
