On Sunday Night Football, the Detroit Lions will host the New England Patriots with the hopes of earning their first win of the 2018 season. It will likely be the final time Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady will come to Ford Field as the Lions will not host New England again for another eight seasons.
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In advance of the big game, Belichick spoke to the media about Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s downfield passing ability and to say he had high praise would be an understatement.
“As good as there is in football. He’s got great weapons. He does an excellent job of seeing down the field in all situations. No matter how much pressure he is under, he seems to find guys down there. He’s extremely dangerous. One of the very best in the league. For sure.”
Wow! Those are some very kind words from “The Hoodie” about the Lions signal-caller though it is important to take it with a grain of salt considering Belichick is the master of building up opposing players, only to destroy them when they actually take the field.
That being said, Stafford was one of the best in the NFL in 2017 when it came to throwing the ball downfield as he completed 43.8% of passes that traveled 20 yards or more. That number helped to rank him No. 2 overall (only behind Alex Smith) in ESPN’s Nex Gen Stats.
In Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers, Stafford overthrew his receivers right and left and he realizes those are the throws that can make or break an offense.
From ESPN:
“They’re huge, right,” Stafford said. “Not going to get a lot of opportunities against a team like that. They want to keep everything in front of them. Two, for sure, to Marv that I thought I had chances at that just overthrew by, I don’t know, I’ll look at the film, but it didn’t seem like much out there.
“I have to hit those and we have to find a way to connect on them. He’s doing a great job of getting open down the field. I just have to give him chances.”
If the Lions want to have any shot of upsetting Belichick, Brady, and the Patriots on Sunday Night Football, Stafford will certainly have to be at his best.
