Stafford's legacy

[*ochocincos*]

(02-09-2022, 03:02 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I can't remember a time when one game could make such a big difference in the legacy of a player.

Over a 7 year stretch from 2011 to 2017 only Drew Brees had more passing yards than Stafford and only 4 QBs had more tds.  Matthew accomplished this despite being sacked more often than any other QB in the league.

During that span the Lions ranked dead last in rushing yards and their defense ranked 20th in points allowed.  But with Stafford at QB they had a winning record and made the playoffs 3 times.  In fact Stafford led all QBs in "4th quarter comebacks" and "4th quarter game winning drives" from '11 through '17.

Currently Stafford is 2nd in career passing yards per game among active QBs yet his name never comes up in discussions of the best QBs in the league.

But all of that will change if he wins this Super Bowl.  He is still just 33 years old and is 12th in league history in passing yards and tds.  This year he had over 4800 yards and 40 tds.  If he stays healthy and wins this ring he is looking at becoming a Hall-of-Fame QB.

I think if Stafford wins the Super Bowl, a lot of people will say the Detroit franchise held him back for so many years.
Heck, you might even be able to say that even if he loses the Super Bowl, but it might help to have a couple more years in LA to really make that determination.