Thursday Note File: Stafford Won’t Flop; Backus Blameless on Sack; Lions Moving on Dial?
NFL Countdown | by Mike O'Hara | 09.24.2009/2:10PM
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NOTE: Participate with me in a live chat on The Detroit News website starting at noon on Monday—after the Lions-Redskins game. Get information at detnews.com.
My question for Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan this week wasn’t about the ceiling for Matthew Stafford, the Lions’ rookie quarterback. Potential is a wonderful commodity – when it is fulfilled.
Stafford has potential and a high ceiling. That is evident in his skill level and demeanor. He has a strong arm, and he has a football mentality. He loves the game and works at it.
There are so many factors involved that it is impossible to predict whether Stafford will reach his ceiling. A snap judgment two games into Stafford’s career is just that – a snap judgment.
Stafford could become Peyton Manning, a quarterback for the ages, or Kerry Collins, a 15-year pro who is still starting with the Tennessee Titans.
But what about the other end of the equation? What about the floor?
Linehan has worked with Stafford for five months – through the offseason program, training camp, exhibition season and the first two regular-season games.
If Stafford were going to be a flop, would Linehan have an inkling of that already?
Linehan is convinced of one thing: Stafford has shown that he’ll be reaching for the ceiling, not the floor. There are no signs that the Lions miscalculated when they drafted Stafford first overall.
Some things about quarterbacks are evident early. If Stafford didn’t have the skills or makeup to play quarterback in the NFL, it would have been shown by now, Linehan said Thursday.
“He has as good a sense as anyone I’ve been around,” Linehan said. “You know, he’s only 21 years old. He can handle it. I know he can.
“I look at this kid – he’s going to be as good as he wants to be. He’s got the makeup for it.”
The results in Stafford’s first two games were fairly close. He had three interceptions in the opener, and two interceptions against one TD pass in the second game.
Linehan saw that Stafford was making more good decisions in the second game – a sign that he is adjusting to the tempo of the NFL.
“The game was moving slower for him that it was the week before,” Linehan said.
A play in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Vikings showed how Stafford and his teammates are at the beginning of the learning curve.
On third and five at the Vikings’ 12, Stafford saw Calvin Johnson flashing from left to right in the middle of the end zone. He double-pumped, thinking Johnson would cut in front of the defender. Instead, Johnson cut along the back. Stafford threw the ball low, incomplete, to avoid an interception. The Lions settled for a field goal.
In the future, Stafford will know that Johnson will use his 6-foot-5 height advantage and throw it high.
Linehan pointed to how little work Stafford got in the exhibition season with three of his top offensive players – tight end Brandon Pettigrew, tailback Kevin Smith and Johnson.
“He probably had them on the field together for 12 snaps,” Linehan said.
Plaxico Burress: He had scarcely been carted off the prison when the analysts weighed in on whether the former Giants and Steelers receiver will have a future in the NFL when he is released before the 2011 season.
If not, it won’t be because of age. Burress turns 34 on Aug. 12, 2011.
Terrell Owens turns 36 in December. Muhsin Muhammad, who’s playing style is closer to Burress, was 36 in May.
His age will have little to do with Burress playing again. A more pressing concern: whether there will be a season, or a lockout, in 2011.
Monte Clark: You have to look at more than the raw numbers of his won-lost record – 43-63 – in seven seasons as head coach.
Clark, who died last week, made the Lions competitive in a way they hadn’t been before his arrival.
From 1980 through 1983, the Lions went into the last week of the season with a change to make the playoffs or win their division. They made the playoffs as a wild card in the strike-shortened 1982 season and won the division in 1983. Both years, they won the last game.
They lost a last-game showdown with Tampa Bay in 1981. In 1980, the Lions and Vikings both were 9-7, but the Vikings won the division because of the tiebreaker.
In 1983, the Lions won their first division title since 1957 – their last championship season.
Media Rare: Connecting the dots backward, now we might see why Lions coach Jim Schwartz was so agreeable to spend an hour on air with WRIF in May.
The contract for the Lions’ radio rights are up after this year, and it’s no secret that Lions management has never been thrilled with its arrangement with WXYT.
It stands to reason that any serious bidder for the Lions’ broadcast rights would begin its smooch—up early.
There’s a lot at stake in carrying a team’s games – announcing teams, pre-game and post-game shows, mid-week shows, coaches shows.
It’s only rock and roll, and I like it.
Backus: The Lions’ much-maligned offensive left tackle was singled out in some media quarters for giving up a sack last week. It should have been obvious to anyone that the sack – by the Vikes’ Jared Allen – that Backus was blocking down on the play, and the sack was the result of a missed assignment in the backfield.
The chop: The Lions can’t complain too loudly about a bad call against Gosder Cherilus for a phantom chop block late in the first half.
Earlier, in the quarter, Cherilus did a Bill Laimbeer Oscar Award flop that drew an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Vikes. It led to the Lions’ first TD.
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