Lions’ Insider: Why Matt Stafford Is “Exactly Where He Wants To Be”

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to the Mike O’Hara interview click on the following link: Ep 95: Mike O’Hara Joins to Talk Matt Stafford and Super Bowl LVI | Spreaker)

You can argue about who wins Super Bowl LVI, but there’s no debate who’s under the most pressure entering the game – and, no, it’s not the Bengals’ offensive line.

It’s quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Forget that he never won a Super Bowl. Forget that he was 0-3 in the playoffs before this season. Forget even that he was 74-93-1 (including the postseason) in 12 years in Detroit. The Los Angeles Rams paid a steep price to acquire him, and it wasn’t to get to a Super Bowl. It was to win one.

Well, now he has his chance.

He never did in Detroit, and that’s not an indictment of Stafford as it is of the organization. He wasn’t surrounded by enough playmakers on either side of the ball. But now he is. And with the Rams sending three first-round picks to Detroit to acquire him, they want immediate results.

So where’s the pressure Sunday? Matt Stafford, come on down.

“Absolutely,” said former Lions’ beat writer Mike O’Hara of DetroitLions.com on this week’s “Eye Test for Two” podcast, “and I think he likes it. I think he’s exactly where he wants to be, and that’s under the gun.

“That’s probably one of the reasons he has always been so good in the last minute, with those 40-something comeback wins (he has 42 career game-winning drives). Playing in Detroit, you can get at that because you have to come from behind. That’s the way it works. (He’s) ice-cold under pressure.

“You know, I have my theory on that.  He’s been talked about with the interceptions he gets, but he throws a lot, too. What is in his DNA and what is his veins and all that …. The same reason he gets interceptions is the same reason he has all those comebacks: It doesn’t bother him. That same ability to throw that ball into tight spots is why it doesn’t bother him.”

Stafford this season had one of the most productive years of his career. He threw for a personal-best 41 touchdowns, with 4,888 yards and a 67.2 completion percentage, tying a single-season high. But he also threw for a league-leading 17 interceptions, which makes him something of a wildcard entering Sunday’s game.

Around FPC

NFL: Marvin Lewis on Brian Flores’ Charges: “No Question, It’s Alarming”

Super Bowl: Cincinnati Keys to Victory: Super Bowl Edition

Super Bowl: Super Bowl LVI Preview: Scouting the Rams’ Defensive Line

Super Bowl: Climb The Ranks: Joe Burrow Continues To Ascend

NHL: NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames

PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 31: Tom Brady Retires; AFC and NFC Championship Preview; Prop Bets and Predictions

Nobody can be sure what to expect, even though he’s 3-0 in this season’s playoffs — including a defeat of Tom Brady and defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay.

“I’ve never seen a guy throw the ball like he does,” said O’Hara, who covered Stafford all 12 of his seasons in Detroit. “I like to see athletes do their thing, even if it’s in practice. And one of the things about Stafford: I’d catch him throw in practice warming up, just throwing those deep outs for the heck of it … because he could.”

“I know it’s impossible, but it was almost like his pass had topspin on it. You could hear it hum on the way by. It was just a joy to watch. It really was. It was like watching Steph Curry shoot free throws or something like that. You know you’re watching somebody who can do what he does at a very high level and do it for a very long time.”

So what happens Sunday? O’Hara likes Stafford and the Rams to win but admits he’s “nervous.”

“I think he’ll play hard and play well and put up numbers and all that,” he said, “but I think he’s going up against the best quarterback in the National Football League. I would take Joe Burrow over anybody.”