So what is the truth? Is Matthew Stafford just a guy who has had his career marred by playing for a bad franchise or is he just extremely overrated? Is he a borderline elite quarterback who has suffered some bad breaks or is he just a guy that is only good at padding stats?
If you have been objective when looking at Stafford’s career, the truth is that it is a little bit of both. Has Matthew underachieved in his career? The painful truth is that he has, but football is the ultimate team sport as I mentioned earlier and he has played on more bad teams than those that had an actual opportunity to win anything.
So while the results so far have not been as desirable as you expect from a number one overall pick, it certainly can’t all be blamed on him despite what some people may think.
Whenever Matthew Stafford completes his career in Detroit, he will have left a mark, statistically, that will be very difficult to break. However, if Stafford’s successor happens to lead them to a playoff victory, there will be a contingency of fans that will feel vindicated in their belief that Matthew has been the problem.
In truth, even if Matthew was to quarterback the Lions to a Super Bowl victory, there will still be fans who would believe that the Lions won in spite of Stafford.
To say this team would be better without him is simply short-sighted. Maybe you can make that claim if Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson or even Patrick Mahomes was on the roster. Instead, there are many quarterback-starved teams would love to have Stafford lined up under center.
The Detroit Lions have woven a particularly poor history since their last championship. The vast majority of which occurred before Matthew Stafford was even here. But his tenure will be scrutinized for a long, long time. No Lions quarterback has ever had as much arm talent as Stafford and very few overall in the NFL’s vast history can claim arm superiority, but when all is said and done, Lions fans want results.
So while there are other polarizing figures within the Detroit sports scene, it seems like the man with the golden arm, Matthew Stafford, brings out the best and worst in the Motor City faithful more than any of its other athletes. And until he starts winning championships, he will continue to be the most polarizing figure in Detroit sports.