Week 21 QB projections   •  DET Stats

QB Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

HT: 6-2, WT: 225, Born: 2-7-1988, College: Georgia, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 1

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Click here for 2011 preseason info

Stats and Week 21 Projection

WK	OPP	RES	CMP	ATT	PYD	Y/A	PTD	INT	RSH	YD	Y/R	TD	FPT
18	at NO	L, 28-45	28	43	380	8.8	3	2	2	1	0.5	1	36
SEASON TOTAL			421	663	5038	7.6	41	16	22	78	3.5	0	433

Week 21 Injury Status and Other News

No official injury reports have been released yet

[Wed Feb 1, 5:40 PM] Matthew Stafford Lions vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. said he wouldn't trade Matthew Stafford "for any quarterback in the league".

Week 21 Matchup Info

The Detroit Lions have a bye this week.

Game Summaries

Week 1 at TB - Stafford put up some unreal stats in the pre-season, and many wondered if he was going to able to keep the same pace in the regular season. It's safe to say that that Stafford is for real and he's going to be a dangerous fantasy QB this season. He maintained his poise, even after throwing a pick-six early in the game. The interception was a tipped pass to Will Heller that was picked off and returned for a TD. However, Stafford stayed focused and led his team back to the end zone three times. His first TD pass to Calvin Johnson was a beautiful rainbow over two defenders into Megatron's waiting arms. Johnson strolled into the end zone for an easy score. His second TD pass was on a roll out to the right side, where he was able to thread the needle between three defenders to find Tony Scheffler for the TD. For the third TD, Stafford went back to Megatron on a jump ball near the side of the end zone. Stafford threw the ball high enough where only Johnson could come down with it and his favorite target did not disappoint. Perhaps the best news for fantasy owners though was Stafford's willingness to stay in the pocket and work his receivers rather than take off running and risk serious injury. If Stafford can maintain this poise throughout the season, he could become one of the top fantasy QBS in the league.

Week 2 vs KC - On the opening drive Stafford hit and completed his 1st four pass attempts of the game. Everything was flowing and then he saw a heavy rush from the Chiefs and made a poor decision that almost cost the Lions the ball at midfield but fortunately for Stafford, the defender John McGraw fumbled the ball shortly after he intercepted it and Tony Scheffler recovered the football. That could have switched the momentum of the game early. Stafford was accurate but it should be noted that he was not throwing the ball down field much. You don't have to in the NFL and the game has evolved so that short passing games have taken the place of a lot of runs but Stafford was benefting form dumping the ball of or connecting on short passes and allowing his receivers and backs to make plays after the catch. That's a nice luxury that Stafford has with guys like Calvin Johnson and Jahvid Best. Early on he benefited from 2 personal foul calls on the opening drive and also a roughing the punter call which put him and the offense right back on the field. He also had several 3 and outs in the early part of the game. Now Stafford did start making some down field throws once the Lions got up 14-3. And that's seems like good coaching because the reality is that while Stafford is in year 3 as an NFL QB, he only has about 15 starts under his belt so the coaches do a fantastic job of putting him in good situations and keeping him out of harm's way. he still does not have a great OL and he does move around to make plays because of the pass rush. Once he settles in for the afternoon though he can tear the defenses apart. He did a nice job of making sure his skill position supporting cast had maximum opportunities to cash in and they did. Stafford looks good but this writer doesn't put him in the top10 yet in the NFL. He is however a potential top10 fantasy QB on just about any week right now. The Lions are not a great smash mouth run team so they are going to take ot the air which means big things for Stafford owners.

Week 3 at MIN - This game was a tale of two halves for everyone involved, but no one enjoyed the second half more than Matthew Stafford. After a brutal first half in which Stafford was sacked twice after being untouched in his first 2 games of the 2011 season and found rhythm and timing very difficult to come by with his receivers, Stafford lit up the Vikings in the second half, bringing the Lions back from down 20-0 at halftime for the overtime victory. For the first 30 minutes, the Lions' offense did not look like the well-oiled machine it was in weeks 1 and 2; finding little running room and even less time to throw under the relentless pressure of the Vikings' defensive front. After a forgettable first quarter that produced a pair of 3 and outs, the Lions adjusted the gameplan in an attempt to slow the pass rush and create space for playmakers by going to more quick-hitting pass plays, screens, and draws almost exclusively from the shotgun. However, the timing was still lacking through the second quarter that saw a few decent drives stall around midfield. Stafford and the Lions' staff really showed what makes this team a contender in the NFC North after halftime, though, as they exploited the holes in the middle of the secondary, primarily to Brandon Pettigrew. Stafford also found ways to negate the rush by using the screen, including his longest pass play--a 60-yarder to Jahvid Best to end the 3rd quarter. Then, when it came time to deliver the knockout punch, Stafford found his favorite big play target, 6'5" Calvin Johnson, who hauled in both of Staffords TD's and the all-important 40-yarder that set up the game winning FG in overtime. The composure Stafford showed in the hostile environment of the Metrodome and under the constant pressure by Jared Allen and company was impressive as the Lions kept pace with the defending Super Bowl champion Packers at 3-0 to start the season.

Week 4 at DAL - Stafford did not look especially sharp in this game, yet he still managed to keep his team focused and lead them to victory when the defense created the opportunities. In the first half of the game, Stafford and the Lions were unable to get any rhythm going. It wasn't until the defense returned two interceptions for TDS that the Detroit offense finally work up and got back into the game. After the final Dallas Field goal made it 30-17, Stafford got the ball for only the second time in the second half and went to work with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. Stafford opened up by hitting Brandon Pettigrew down the middle of the field for a bit 22 yard gain. To start the 4th quarter, Stafford hit Titus Young with two consecutive passes before finding Megatron in the end zone. Stafford threw a perfect 'jump ball' and Calvin out battled two guys to come down with the big reception. When the Cowboys turned the ball over for the final time, and Stafford had a chance to win the game, he calmly marched his team down the field, and with first and goal from the one and less than two minutes to play, he threw another jump ball for Calvin to come down with, giving the Lions another come from behind victory. For the game, Stafford struggled. The defense was relentless and he took a lot of hard shots. He frequently dumped the ball or threw it away to avoid the pressure. He can be rattled. Had the defense not pulled them out in the third quarter, I'm not sure Stafford could have done it himself. However, when his team put him in a position to win, Stafford delivered. In the end, that's all that really counts.

Week 5 vs CHI - His first pass of the night was off target to Nate Burleson in the flat. Stafford looked jittery early on. Later on the same drive he missed Burleson. Stafford also missed a streaking and wide open Titus Young running up the right sideline. It probably would not have gone all the way for a touchdown because the Bears Safety was still between Young and the end zone but it definitely would have been a long gain and set the Lions up in good field position. Once Julius Peppers left the game and Chicago could not rush the QB as easily, the Lions dialed up the long ball. His 1st touchdown of the night came early in the 2nd quarter where he found Calvin Johnson wide open flying to the end zone and Stafford put it on the money so that Calvin could catch it in stride. Great throw on the play. Next drive he overthrew Nate Burleson who had a step on the DB but Stafford could not hit him. Matt threw an interception before the half trying to force the ball to Calvin Johnson and it was an easy undercut play by D.J. Moore of the Bears. Stafford did not play all that well in the 1st half. Overall for the night he was effective when he needed to be and he cashed in on opportunities presented by the Bears defense. Also you might make note that late in the game with Detroit nursing a 21-13 lead, the coaching staff opted not to take a shot at the end zone with Calvin Johnson who has been unstoppable and decided to just run the ball a few times, then kick a field goal. Stafford was not on target the entire night and the coaching staff took no chances with a possible pass that could go the wrong way. Stafford did alright but he wasn't sensational either. He made a few big throws and also missed a few wide open receivers. What was a solid night for fantasy owners could have been a bigger night.

Week 6 vs SF - Stafford's stat line is going to look good to his owners, but the reality is that it was a huge struggle getting to that level. The Detroit wide receivers had a very tough time getting open in the first half, forcing Stafford to check it down a great deal. The Detroit defensive front entered the game with the reputation for being aggressive and dangerous to the quarterback, but San Francisco proved to be just as intimidating. Stafford was under a lot of pressure and definitely didn't get into any sort of regular rhythm. He was whistled for a safety in the first half on a play where the defenders were right in front of him. He just kept drifting back into the end zone until it was too late, and by the time he tried to flip the ball away it was already a safety. Soon after, he threw a pass that was intended for either Nate Burleson or Titus Young, but instead was thrown right into the hands of a defender. The only reason it wasn't a turnover is because it was dropped despite hitting the defender right in the hands. Stafford did a somewhat better job in the second half, and not coincidentally that was when he started looking in Calvin Johnson's direction more frequently. On Stafford's first eight red zone passes, not one of them went in Johnson's direction (including three in a row from the San Francisco six yard line). It wouldn't be a problem if others were scoring, but they weren't having much success with the others yet still stayed away from Johnson for a long time. When Stafford finally did have a chance to connect with Johnson for a long gain in one on one coverage, the ball was thrown out of bounds. Had it been kept on the field of play, there's a good chance it would have been a 40+ yard play. For most of the second half, he didn't look very comfortable. Their two minute drill at the end of the first half left a lot to be desired, but the one at the end of the game was downright pathetic. They got the ball with just over a minute left and no timeouts and proceeded to go almost nowhere. Stafford held the ball way too long on first down and was sacked, then took an extremely long time to set the next play (which knocked about 25 seconds off the clock from snap to snap). Stafford then completed a dump-off over the middle that did more harm than good on second down, and a short pass over the middle on third down that went nowhere to end the game. A lot of credit is owed to the Niners defense, but Detroit didn't help itself with some curious play from its leader.

Week 7 vs ATL - Matt Stafford had a very erratic game and there was no sense of continuity in the passing game. Stafford was very skittish at times and reacted poorly to pressure. He seemed to panic at the sign of any pressure coming his way and threw many uncatchable passes as a result. In the first half he got sacked, looked uncomfortable and had passes batted down. Stafford almost had an interception in the end zone as his WR stopped his route after Stafford threw the ball and the DB was not able to come up with the pick. Stafford leaned heavily on WR Calvin Johnson when he needed to make a play to get Detroit back into this game. Stafford found Johnson on a lot of short passes that kept drives alive and really wanted to get the ball to his playmaker. Stafford did underthrow Johnson deep on one occasion and threw behind him on a slant pattern in the red zone however. On his only touchdown, he simply fired the pass to Johnson and his WR broke tackles and did the work as he scored for his team. It seems that Stafford cannot function properly when he cannot get the ball to Calvin Johnson and there is a lack of a legitimate weapon elsewhere on this team which is leading to inconsistent play by the DET QB.

Week 8 at DEN - Stafford was questionable for most of the week, but he didn't look like he was hampered in any way as he led the Lions to a big victory over the Broncos in Denver. Stafford frequently lineup up in the shotgun, most likely to avoid the unnecessary pressure on his ankle, but he didn't show any signs of having mobility problems as he frequently moved around the pocket and his 21 yard run was longer than anything from Tim Tebow. On that play, Stafford was under pressure, and took off up the middle. The defense was focused on stopping Calvin and Titus Young, and it took a second for them to chase him down. When Stafford slid, he took a hit to the back of the helmet and drew another 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty, turning it into a big 36 yard play. Stafford had three TDS on the day. The first was to a wide open Titus Young who found himself all alone in the end zone when the defensive coverage broke down. The second was a short roll out where the defense lost track of Tony Scheffler and Stafford flipped him the ball for an easy score. The final one was to his favorite target -- Calvin Johnson. When the defense jumped off side, it seemed like everything slowed down as people were expecting a whistle. However, Johnson continues the play and sprinted into the open field behind the defensive secondary. Stafford threw off his back foot and hit Johnson on a perfect pass. He coasted into the end zone for a big 56 yard TD that basically put the game away for the Lions. Stafford sat out the 4th quarter and should be fine for their next game after the bye week. While he seemed to struggle at times, throwing off his back foot more than you'd expect, it may have been due to the ankle injury. While it may be something to keep an eye on, Stafford was clearly in command in this game, and the Lions put it away early, and iced it with some big help from their defense in the second half.

Week 10 at CHI - To say that Stafford struggled in this game would be like saying Greece and Italy are experiencing minor financial corrections. The Lions came into this game leading the league with the fewest turnovers and Stafford had not thrown an interception in the second half all season. In this game though, he set a franchise record with 63 pass attempts and threw four interceptions in the second half, including two that were returned for touchdowns on back to back series. Stafford played the entire game with special gloves that were designed to protect his hands from the weather. However, the temperature was in the 60's and it did not rain. After the game, Stafford said he had a broken finger, so that may have accounted for some of his poor performance. Stafford frequently missed receivers with passes thrown behind them or passes that did not have the proper arch. He frequently threw off his back foot and sometimes his pass was more of a side arm than over the top. His first interception was a sideline route to Tony Scheffler, but they were not on the same page and the ball was thrown way behind Scheffler and easily returned for a TD. On the second, Stafford stared at Calvin Johnson the entire time, and tried to force the ball into him. On his third, Stafford tried to his Davis on a quick slant route but the defender made a play and it was picked off. Stafford chased him down the field and when D.J. Moore tried to Block Stafford, he grabbed him by the helmet and flung him to the ground. Moore retaliated and a brawl broke out with Moore being ejected. The final one was another case where Stafford tried to force the ball into Calvin Johnson who was triple covered in the end zone. Even on the TD pass to Tony Scheffler almost didn't happen because on the three previous passes the ball was either thrown too high to Brandon Pettigrew or Scheffler, or was batted down and nearly picked off. Scheffler did have a nice grab on the TD though, and it put a small bow on an otherwise terrible day.

Week 11 vs CAR - Matthew Stafford's five touchdown performance started off in shaky fashion as the Lions offense struggled to move the football and turned the ball over twice in the early stages. On his first pick, Stafford failed to see LB James Anderson in the middle of the field and forced a pass. On his second, on a deep pass intended for Calvin Johnson, the ball was tipped and landed in the safety's hands. Stafford quickly recovered from his funk, resorting to more short passes and showing no ill-effects from his finger injury. Stafford hit Titus Young on a quick slant in the red zone for his first score. He also threw a screen pass to Kevin Smith, who did the rest to get into the end zone. Stafford's touchdown passes were all in the short to intermediate range, but what stood out was how accurately he delivered the football and how easy it was for his receivers to catch them. This is the second five touchdown performance for Stafford this season, who is a top ten play at quarterback going forward as long as this finger injury remains a non-issue.

Week 12 vs GB - Matthew Stafford struggled again for Detroit, and although the Lions dominated the game in Time Of Possession in the first half, they were unable to put any points on the board due to stupid penalties and turnovers. In the second half, when Stafford really fell apart, the Packers were able to capitalize and burry the Lions with an easy victory. Of Stafford's 276 yards passing, over 110 of it came with the Lions down 24-0, when Green Bay was basically just preventing the big play. The TD pass to Calvin Johnson was absolute garbage time, when the game was over, and the Lions were just running out the clock. 16 of Stafford's 32 completions were check downs to a running back. But perhaps the biggest crime that Stafford committed was trying to force the ball into Brandon Pettigrew because Calvin Johnson was covered most of the day. All three of Stafford's interceptions came on pass attempts to Pettigrew, and all three lead to Green Bay scoring drives. Despite constant re-assurance that his broken finger is not bothering him, it's clear that Stafford is not the same QB he was as the beginning of the season, and the Lions are suffering because of it. The constant injuries to the Detroit RB corps doesn't help.

Week 13 at NO - Stafford was tremendous in the second half. He had over 400 yards and threw strike after strike all game long. He had a rough start and his team got in a hole, but he looked really comfortable throwing the ball and the Saints cornerbacks had no answers for his arm. Unfortunately for Stafford, his team continued to make mistakes and penalties and stop the progress. Stafford spent the early part of the game throwing to his rb's a significant portion of the time. Then he started hitting the receivers facing single coverage and finally he started using Calvin later in the game. But by that time the game was almost out of reach. The one thing you'd like to see is more deep balls to Calvin Johnson, but the Saints seemed to be blanketing him early and often. Stafford did have a wide open Titus Young towards the end of the second half with less than 15 seconds left. Somehow Young got behind the defense, and Stafford hit him for a long reception, but a better throw would have been an easy TD. Staffords numbers were without question bolstered a bit by the fact that they were behind much of the game, but he still looked very good throwing the ball. He's going to need to play that well to have any chance at getting a playoff spot.

Week 14 vs MIN - The Lions jumped out to an early lead, largely thanks to strong defensive plays that led to two defensive TDS within the first 18 minutes of the game. Stafford also added the 57 yard TD bomb to Titus Young and the 12 yard TD corner route to Brandon Pettigrew and Stafford's biggest task was just to keep the clock moving. Both TD passes were perfect drops, and with the glove officially off, it's clear that Stafford has his passing accuracy back. He finished the first quarter with 128 passing yards and 2 TDS, and could probably have really lit the Vikings up for the day, but Stafford only had to manage the game after that, and keep the Lions moving down the field and the clock running. His big play target of the day was Titus Young, and he hit young for two 25+ yard passes, including the 57 yard TD pass. He also found Brandon Pettigrew on several key plays in the first quarter to set up the big lead and keep Detroit out in front. As the game wore on, Stafford didn't try to do too much, keeping the passes short and focusing on playing mistake-free football. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers for the entire day, and didn't really get Calvin Johnson involved much in the offense either. With Johnson double covered for most of the day, Stafford used Titus Young and Brandon Pettigrew to beat Minnesota. He's definitely back to full strength and has the Lions back on a playoff track. If they can keep defenses honest with some sort of running game, Stafford is going to be a nice sleeper down the stretch.

Week 15 at OAK - First thing you should know is that the Lions had about 10 dropped passes in this game. It was pretty bad and Stafford could have thrown for 450-500 yard if everyone would have hung on to the ball but he still managed to tear Oakland apart and please his owners this weekend for those that had to start him. Stafford started and ended this party with connections to Calvin Johnson. He also added a couple more passing touchdowns to some of his other receivers. The Lions inability to run the football meant the majority of the offense was going to channel thru Stafford and the passing game. Stafford made a nice red to hook up with Nate Burleson before the end of the 1st half to even things up 14-14. He was at his lowest point in the football game when he fumbled on a sack deep in his own territory to allow Oakland to move ahead 27-14 with about 7-8 minutes left int he game. A lot of QBs could have folded at that point but Stafford went right back on the field and mounted a furious comeback hitting whatever the defense would give him and working Burleson and Young away from Calvin to pull within 27-21. On the last drive to take the lead 28-27 and win the game, Stafford found Calvin several times n big pass plays culminating with the touchdown and victory. Stafford showed great leadership today.

Week 16 vs SD - Stafford played about as well as any quarterback has played in any game the entire season. He completed over 80% of his passes, threw three touchdowns (it likely would have been more except Detroit didn't need to really throw the ball much in the second half), and did all of this despite Calvin Johnson only catching four of those passes. The game opened with a bang, as Stafford hooked up with Johnson for a 46-yard bomb on their very first offensive play. The ball was actually a bit underthrown, but it was where it needed to be for Johnson to catch it. He was the only one who made the adjustment to go and get it. Later on that drive, Stafford fired a bullet low and to the right of TE Brandon Pettigrew, again a tough catch but again the only place it could be for his receiver to make the catch. That resulted in the first score for the Lions. It would soon become apparent that it was going to be a great day for the Detroit passing game. Stafford got loads of time and was firing strikes all over the field. And on the rare occasions he was under pressure, he did a great job of eluding it. On one play in particular, Stafford seemed like he was about to be sacked. Instead, he rolled to his left, flung one across his body about fifty yards in the air downfield to Johnson, and very nearly connected on a long score. The ball was knocked away at the last moment, but the Lions were clearly showing they were in attack mode. And the QB was rewarded with his strong play by tossing two more first half touchdown passes, one a short toss in the flat to RB Kevin Smith and the other a bullet to Johnson up the right sideline. He was simply picking the Chargers apart, and by the end of the first half he had put up 260 passing yards and converted 7-8 third down conversions. In the second half, despite the Chargers seemingly grabbing some momentum late in the third quarter, Stafford directed a terrific response drive to move the Lions quickly downfield with a couple of big pass plays and get Detroit back on the board. In doing so, he compiled the eights 300-yard passing game of his career which amazingly ties Scott Mitchell for the most all-time in Lions history.

Week 17 at GB - Stafford capped off his best season as a pro with a 520 yard, five TD performance against the #1 seed in the NFC. The Lions needed this game to avoid having to play the Red Hot New Orleans Saints, and Stafford put them in a great position to win, scoring the 'go-ahead' TD on a perfect pass to Tony Scheffler with under three minutes to play. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, and the Lions ended the game with Stafford trying to force the ball into Nate Burleson for his second interception of the day. Stafford's favorite target was obviously Calvin Johnson, and Johnson came up with big receptions again and again. Despite a couple back foot throws that are somewhat typical of Stafford, he was sharp throughout the game. His final TD pass to Tony Scheffler was a laser pass between three defenders where Scheffler made a perfect catch. He also found Calvin Johnson for a TD and Titus Young for two TDS. Stafford had a great game and deserves all the credit that a 5000 yard season should warrant. He finished as the #4 fantasy QB in a season where guys like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees re-defined the QB position. That's definitely saying a lot.

Week 18 at NO - Matthew Stafford's first playoff appearance was very impressive but he just didn't get the support from his defense that he needed. Stafford leaned heavily on superstar WR Calvin Johnson as the running game almost nonexistent and DET lacks a consistently productive #2 option in this offense. Stafford was incredibly poised, stood tall in the pocket and delivered accurate strikes over the field. The much talked and discussed offensive line of Detroit played extremely well considering DET was passing almost exclusively. Stafford had more than enough time against the blitz happy tactics of DC Gregg Williams. Stafford began the scoring with a bang, pushing the ball down toward the endzone fast and getting the ball to TE Heller on a simple go pattern in the redzone as he was left alone at the line of scrimmage. Stafford focused his efforts on getting the ball to Calvin Johnson, despite the defenses efforts to limit his production. Stafford was able to get the ball to Johnson by throwing it up high where only WR Johnson could get it and away from smaller DB's for New Orleans. Stafford kept the pressure on by "throwing open" WR Johnson in the endzone as Johnson split two defenders and leaped up in the air while turning to haul in the touchdown catch. He was also able to find WR Young deep down the field but it was slightly overthrown and Young could not make the catch. Stafford was looking for the 1 on 1 match ups all game and connected on a Hail Mary effort to WR Johnson who made a great adjustment to the ball to bring it in. He then executed a bootleg run to the pilon and just got inside the pilon for the rushing touchdown. Stafford tried another Hail Mary pass in single coverage with WR Young down the field but he fell over and the pass was underthrown which led to an easy INT for New Orleans. Stafford threw another interception late in the game as DET fell behind and felt pressured to make a play, not seeing the CB who was sitting on the underneath route and picked it off easily. Matthew Stafford truly relied on Johnson too much, often throwing it to him in double or triple coverage and getting away with it as he threw high passes for his gigantic WR to pluck out of the air. However, Stafford lacks a trusted and productive #2 target in this offense and the defense didn't help him out either as they gave up 45 points.