Faulk downplays Stafford’s acheivements

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had an impressive season. He passed for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns, led the Lions to 10 wins and the playoffs, and won the NFL’s comeback player of the year award. Mighty fine for someone the missed a good portion of his first two seasons.

Former St. Louis Ram and current NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk doesn’t see Stafford’s accomplishments as a big deal. Instead Faulk said he wasn’t impressed and called passing for 5,000 yards is the norm in today’s NFL.

“Throwing for 5,000 yards in the NFL right now is nothing,” Faulk said. “I don’t want to take anything away from it. As much as people throw the football now, you better have 5,000 (yards) if you have Calvin Johnson.”      

I’d like to ask what is Faulk smoking? The 5,000 yard plateau has only been done five times in NFL history and he calls it the norm? Drew Bledsoe had over 600 pass attempts on four occasions and never broke 5,000 yards. If you take away Calvin Johnson, Stafford still passes for about 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns. Still not that bad.

While I don’t know that Faulk has an agenda, it’s clear he’s been dining on paint chips. Stafford’s season is absolutely impressive. It’s not run of the mill, even in this pass-happy league.

I imagine this was a classic case of overstatement. From what I can gather, without having seen him make the statement, his point was that it’s not a big deal to throw for 5,000 yards, as it was in Marino’s day. If that’s what he meant, fine. I totally agree. It used to be a big deal to rush for 1,000 yards; it’s not a huge statement any longer.

On the other hand, if Faulk is trying to dismiss Stafford’s season altogether as somehow being par for the course, he has no leg to stand on. Jon Kitna had Calvin Johnson at his disposal. Peyton Manning, Daunte Culpepper, Joe Montana and MANY others had outstanding receivers at their disposal. It’s not to say Stafford is the greatest thing since sliced bread, rather that he had a fantastic season, regardless of era or weapons. 

Stafford Named Comeback Player Of The Year

After two injury riddled seasons, Matthew Stafford bounced back in his third NFL season in a major way. Stafford set Lions single-season records with 5,038 yards passing, 41 touchdowns and a passer rating of 97.2.

He led the Lions to their first playoff berth in 12 years and orchestrated a few fourth quarter comebacks along the way. All of the aforementioned earned Stafford the Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers Association comeback player of the year. The Associated Press award, recognized by the NFL will be announced the day before the Super Bowl.

Stafford is still young and has yet to build a long term resume, but he represents a legitimate franchise quarterback for the Lions. He gives the fans real hope unlike quarterbacks of years past. Hopefully Stafford can continue to play at a high level and break into the upper tier of NFL quarterbacks.

Lions Made The Right Call On Stafford

Today the Detroit Lions made a good decision on what could determine the future of the franchise. They put quarterback Matthew Stafford on injured reserve. I know some might differ on my opinion of this but I explained a few weeks back why they should keep him out for the rest of the year.

Stafford’s been hurt for most of the season. He separated his throwing shoulder in the first game of the season and aggravated it against the Jets in week 8. Well they said it was a different injury from the initial injury. I think he came back too soon or was rushed back. One of the two. I know Stafford probably wanted to come back for the last two games of the year and test himself. It’s probably a good thing he didn’t make the decision himself.

It’s clear the team isn’t going anywhere and it was wise to put him on IR and not risk another significant injury which would leave you drafting another quarterback. It also was clear that the Lions could’ve been at least three wins better this year. But we’re not playing horseshoes and hand grenades here. It’s the NFL. And one false move can set you back years. The Lions and their fans know all about being set back.

The Lions Need To Save Stafford Until Next Year

There are reports circulating saying Matthew Stafford has started throwing again. Of course that means everyone will think he’s coming back to close out the season and finish strong to give everyone some hope for next season. I think bringing him back would be the wrong thing to do.

First of all this season is lost. They’re 2-10 and not going anywhere. The only thing the Lions can salvage by bringing Stafford back is one or two wins and getting knocked down a few slots in the draft. That shouldn’t be a reason to bring him back.Why risk him getting hurt or aggravating the two injuries he’s suffered to his shoulder this year. I do think if Stafford were healthy the Lions would be closer to the break even mark rather than 2-10. It’s a lost cause to bring him back.

Let Stafford get some rest and rehab. Go back to the drawing board and get some more pieces to make the team a winner. Don’t bring him back just to get some meaningless wins. I know coach Jim Schwartz is trying to change a losing culture, but don’t possibly risk your so-called “franchise” quarterback’s career for the sake of a few wins at the end of the year.

Twitter makes trouble for athletes

Nothing against the Twitter craze going on right now, but i just don’t get it. To me it’s almost like what i’m doing now your giving details of your day. Over the summer i began to hear more about professional athletes “tweeting”. If i’m an athlete i want no part of this. You might as well invite the press over or get a reality show, which is another topic for another day. Now athletes are finding themselves getting in a bit of hot water over twitter. One is the case of Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The thing about it is it wasn’t him “tweeting”, it was his brother Marcus lighting the flame. It was all about Larry’s role in the offense and apparent disenchantment with the coaching staff. Of course there was some damage control done, now all is well in Cardinal country.This past week it’s soon to be former Kansas City Chiefs star Larry Johnson. He goes on his twitter account and blasts his teammates, using gay slurs along the way, and flames his coach, Todd Haley. After the story comes out he tries to make the account private. Too late. He’s now suspended  and banned from all team activities. He’s apologized and has filed a grievance with the NFL. One local case involved Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions. He alledgedly was giving updates on whether or not he was going to play. I know Chad OchoCinco swears by it, but i just think it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Just line up the news trucks outside your home if you want to let everyone know what your doing.