2 DETROIT LIONS
Playoffs? If the franchise QB is healthy, there's reason to believe
All eyes in Detroit, and in the NFC North, are on quarterback Matthew Stafford. In seven years of high school and college ball he never missed a game to injury. In two seasons in the NFL he has missed 19. Since the Lions drafted him out of Georgia in 2009 with the No. 1 pick, Stafford has separated his throwing shoulder three times; in January he had the joint repaired by noted orthopedist James Andrews, who said after the surgery, "Matthew has one of the strongest arms in the league, and I am confident he will be as strong as ever."
Fast-forward to an August day in training camp in suburban Detroit. With the first units on the field in passing drills, Stafford riddled the secondary. In 16 plays he threw effortlessly, accurately and beautifully. Six times—almost myopically—he targeted star fifth-year wideout Calvin Johnson ("Wouldn't you?" he said later), completing all six passes. On one of those, a deep seam up the right side, Louis Delmas, the Lions' best safety, and starting corner Chris Houston converged on Johnson, bracketing him side and back ... and Stafford's 42-yard pass dropped into the in-stride receiver's hands as Johnson sprinted past the double coverage.
The Lions' defensive upgrades include free-agent linebacker Stephen Tulloch and tackle Nick Fairley, the No. 13 pick, from Auburn, who will line up next to the NFL's 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Ndamukong Suh. But it's Stafford's ability to stay in the lineup that will determine whether Detroit is a serious playoff contender in the stacked NFC for the first time in years.
"Does your shoulder hurt at all?" Stafford was asked after an August practice.
"Did you see me out there?" he responded with a smile.
The right shoulder was supposed to take six months to heal, Stafford said, but he felt fine in four: "I worked six days a week on it. What else was I going to do? And I rehabbed really quickly. There's no question in my mind I can stay healthy for a full season."
Both Stafford, 23, and coach Jim Schwartz say the quarterback is not going to change his playing style because of the injuries. "I haven't been hurt because I've been out of the pocket scrambling," he said. "I don't scramble a ton."
Well, not really. In November 2009 he went on a wild run with seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Browns and had his left shoulder crushed into the turf by defensive tackle C.J. Mosley. That separation didn't require surgery. But last year the right shoulder was twice separated—the first on a blind-side sack in the pocket by the Bears' Julius Peppers, the second when Stafford fled the pocket against the Jets and got tripped up, landing hard on the shoulder.
On Stafford's wild scramble against Cleveland, Schwartz remembers saying, "Get rid of it, get rid of it." It would make sense for the coach to lean on his quarterback to take fewer chances, but Schwartz won't do it: "I've said nothing to him that I haven't said before. I've told him he doesn't have to have the mentality that he has to make every play. I'm hoping what we can do on defense now makes it clear to him he doesn't have to make a play every time he drops back. On second-and-10, discretion should be the better part of valor. If you know the defense isn't going to make a play, sometimes you take a chance you shouldn't; that should be different now. On third-and-10 if you want to take a chance, O.K.
"That's more of the conversation I've had with him. But I'm not going to dictate to him how to play a game he's been successful at for years."
Former Giants quarterback Phil Simms was hurt in four of his first five seasons in the NFL and developed a reputation for being injury-prone. Then he became a near iron man and a Super Bowl champion. The most encouraging aspect for the Lions is that they now have enough weapons—including field-stretching rookie receiver Titus Young from Boise State—to prevent teams from blanketing Johnson with two men. That will open up more options for Stafford in the passing game. Still, Detroit's offensive line, with aging left tackle Jeff Backus (33) and shaky right tackle Gosder Cherilus, is going to expose the quarterback to pressure. Stafford has to learn to take fewer chances—or risk going down in history as a great prospect who got too beat up too soon.
"What's there not to love about our receivers?" Stafford says. "Calvin makes my job so easy. You throw it up there, and if he's not catching it, no one is. With him and all our receivers, it's great to think about what we can do for a full season."
Emphasis on full.
PROJECTED LINEUP
WITH 2010 STATS
OFFENSE
2010 Rank: 17
QB MATTHEW STAFFORD
ATT 96
COMP 57
PCT 59.4
YARDS 535
YD/ATT 5.57
TD 6
INT 1
RATING 91.3
RB JAHVID BEST
ATT 171
YARDS 555
REC 58
TTD 6
WR CALVIN JOHNSON
REC 77
YARDS 1,120
AVG 14.5
TTD 12
WR NATE BURLESON
REC 55
YARDS 625
AVG 11.4
TTD 6
TE BRANDON PETTIGREW
REC 71
YARDS 722
AVG 10.2
TTD 4
TE WILL HELLER
REC 29
YARDS 296
AVG 10.2
TTD 3
LT JEFF BACKUS
G 16
SACKS 4
HOLD 2
FALSE 1
LG ROB SIMS
G 16
SACKS 3½
HOLD 1
FALSE 1
C DOMINIC RAIOLA
G 16
SACKS 3
HOLD 3
FALSE 3
RG STEPHEN PETERMAN
G 16
SACKS 4
HOLD 1
FALSE 6
RT GOSDER CHERILUS
G 12
SACKS 2
HOLD 2
FALSE 0
RB MAURICE MORRIS
ATT 90
YARDS 336
REC 25
TTD 5
WR TITUS YOUNG (R)
REC 71
YARDS 1,215
AVG 17.1
TTD 10
DEFENSE
2010 Rank: 21
DE CLIFF AVRIL
TACKLES 32
SACKS 8½
INT 0
DT NDAMUKONG SUH
TACKLES 66
SACKS 10
INT 1
DT COREY WILLIAMS
TACKLES 37
SACKS 2
INT 1
DE KYLE VANDEN BOSCH
TACKLES 49
SACKS 4
INT 0
LB DEANDRE LEVY
TACKLES 72
SACKS 0
INT 2
LB STEPHEN TULLOCH
TACKLES 160
SACKS 1
INT 1
LB Justin Durant
TACKLES 55
SACKS 0
INT 0
CB Eric Wright
TACKLES 42
SACKS 0
INT 1
SS AMARI SPIEVEY
TACKLES 46
SACKS 0
INT 2
FS LOUIS DELMAS
TACKLES 84
SACKS 2
INT 0
CB CHRIS HOUSTON
TACKLES 54
SACKS 0
INT 1
DB NATHAN VASHER
TACKLES 17
SACKS 0
INT 1
SPECIALISTS
K JASON HANSON
FG 12
FGA 14
XP 19
PTS 55
P NICK HARRIS
PUNTS 90
GROSS 44.6
NET 35.8
BOLD: Projected starter
Italics:New acquisition
(R) Rookie: College stats
TTD: Total touchdowns
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
SACKS: Sacks allowed
HOLD: Holding penalties
FALSE: False starts
2011 SCHEDULE
2010 RECORD: 6--10
September
11 at Tampa Bay
18 Kansas City
25 at Minnesota
October
2 at Dallas
10 Chicago (Mon)
16 San Francisco
23 Atlanta
30 at Denver
November
6 BYE
13 at Chicago
20 Carolina
24 Green Bay (Thu)
December
4 at New Orleans
11 Minnesota
18 at Oakland
24 San Diego (Sat)
January
1 at Green Bay
COACH: JIM SCHWARTZ
AGE: 45
THIRD SEASON WITH THE LIONS (8--24)
The former Titans defensive coordinator has used his own blueprint to remake the Lions' D, beginning with a strong front that has backups who can provide almost as much pressure as the starters. Schwartz's plan still needs some refining, but after a four-game winning streak to end last season, the troops at Ford Field are confident he knows what he's doing.
SPOTLIGHT
ERIC WRIGHT, Cornerback
The Lions are gambling, and gambling big, that increased pressure from an improved front seven—including rookie tackle Nick Fairley, on the mend from surgery for a stress fracture in his left foot, and middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch, formerly of the Titans—will make up for their shortcomings in the secondary. Rather than seriously enter the bidding for a high-profile cornerback, Detroit reached toward the bottom of the free-agent barrel and signed Wright to a one-year, $2 million contract. (The Lions did pursue the Bengals' Johnathan Joseph but weren't close to matching the Texans' five-year, $48.75 million deal, with $23.5 million guaranteed.)
A four-year starter in Cleveland, Wright was yanked for poor play by coach Eric Mangini last December and now hopes to rebuild his career in Detroit. He's not alone. The Lions are banking that a handful of corners who failed elsewhere—Wright, Chris Houston (Atlanta), Alphonso Smith (Denver), Nathan Vasher (Chicago)—can form an adequate group. There's plenty of focus on Matthew Stafford's health in Detroit, but there's cause for concern on the other side of the ball. If the Lions are going to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999, they're going to have to do it with one of the worst crops of corners in the league.
PHOTO
TOM DIPACE (SCHWARTZ)
PHOTO
DAVIE E. KLUTHO (STAFFORD)
BACK IN BLUE Whle Stafford (9) vows not to ratchet back his style to avoid injury, Schwartz says that an improved defense will allow the QB to take fewer risks.
PHOTO
JOHN BIEVER (WRIGHT)
