Matthew Stafford at 40,000: 40 memorable moments (Part One)

Hitting the next milestone

8. “Put it away! Put a bow on it!” (Dec. 24, 2011)

It was a Christmas gift we hadn’t gotten in over a decade, but Stafford’s performance in the playoff-clinching 38-10 win over the Chargers made us all believe in Santa Claus on that night. Considering what was at stake, this is start-to-finish the best game of Stafford’s career, and maybe the most complete single game Lions performance of the 2000s to date.

With a 46-yard strike to Calvin Johnson on the very first play, 3 touchdown passes to open up a 24-0 halftime lead, Stafford came out firing and didn’t let up until the first playoff spot since 1999 was sealed for the Honolulu Blue. 29-36, 373 yards, 3 TD, 0 turnovers, and a very Merry Christmas in recession-stricken Detroit after all.

9. Saints Playoff Game (Jan. 7, 2012)

It doesn’t count in his official passing statistics, but I still had to include the way Stafford showed up for his first playoff game. The first regular season game of his career (a 45-27 loss) was against Drew Brees and the Saints, so it’s fitting his playoff debut would follow the same script.

With 380 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, the 23-year-old had the Lions in the lead at halftime, and following a gutty run for the pylon late in the third quarter, it looked like he might have one more miracle comeback left for the year, even though the calendar had passed into 2012. Unfortunately, the all-time great on the other side of the ball threw for nearly 500 yards and this one finished nearly identical to their first encounter, 45-28.

10. Stafford passes 10,000 yards (Nov. 4, 2012)

Other than Calvin Johnson breaking Jerry Rice‘s single-season receiving record, the Jaguars game was the last thing the Lions could celebrate in 2012. Stafford found tight end Tony Scheffler (if you don’t remember him, he was the one who did a Three Musketeers sword fight TD celebration against the Buccaneers once…that help?) for 28 yards to pass the 10,000 yard mark for his career.

The Lions cruised to a 31-14 win to break even at 4-4 midway through, but wouldn’t win another game for the rest of the year.

You can view moments #11-20 in Matthew Stafford’s journey to 40,000 passing yards by clicking here.