Every Matthew Stafford pass from Week One

Stafford in the Fourth Quarter

• Complete to Hockenson 4 yd
• Complete to Cephus 9 yd
• Incomplete short (Cephus)
• Incomplete short (Swift)
• Complete to Peterson 4 yd
• Incomplete short (Cephus)
• Complete to Swift 5 yd

Key Play: Intended middle for Jones, INTERCEPTION

This is only one of about ten (or more) physical and mental lapses that cost the Lions the game, but Stafford made a mistake by throwing this pass. To be clear, on third-and-six and trying to grab a few more first downs to ice the game, I have no problem with the aggressive play call.

Marvin Jones was just a tiny bit open on a crossing route and Stafford thought he could fit it in, but the double coverage collapsed, the ball popped thirty feet up in the air, and the Bears had a gift-wrapped final possession already in field goal range.

Again, I like the aggressive play call, but Stafford needs to read that moment better and make a less risky throw. The old phrase of putting it “where only your receiver can make a play” applies to this scenario.

An incompletion wouldn’t be the end of the world if he saw tight coverage and needed to just throw it away. A tiny window into double coverage when you’re protecting a lead and it’s third and long isn’t just a blueprint for a costly mistake; it’s paint by numbers.

• Complete to Jones 11 yd
• Incomplete short (Cephus)
• Complete to Amendola 5 yd
• Complete to Swift 3 yd
• Incomplete deep (Cephus)
• Complete to Amendola 32 yd
• Spike to stop clock

Key Play: Incomplete deep (Swift)

All is forgotten, all is forgiven, all is not lost as Stafford finds a soft spot down the left sideline. He lofts a perfect little touch pass, his speedy rookie running back settles under it, the Stafford Magic YouTube reel needs a new director’s cut as D’Andre Swift’s feet hit the end zone to—WHAATTTT??? What do you mean he dropped it??

I was halfway out of the living room screaming in celebration before making the walk of shame back to my seat. Almost exactly ten years to the day of the infamous Calvin Johnson rule, another dropped touchdown pass in the closing seconds puts the Lions on the short end of a season opening heartbreaker against Chicago.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘generational trauma’ and aren’t sure what it means, the answer is that wide open drop in the end zone with six seconds left. For those who have watched the Lions for an extended period of time, there’s no other way to explain it.

• Incomplete deep (Jones), Final play of the game.

Fourth Quarter Passing: 8-17, 73 yards, 1 interception