The Anointing of Matthew Stafford: Detroit's Quarterback Is Here to Stay

In one game—in one instant, really—Matthew Stafford won over the hearts of Detroit.

In possibly the most insane game I have ever witnessed as a Lions fan, the Detroit Lions found their quarterback. 

This is huge.

You might now be writing me off as a delusional Lions fan raving about a meaningless game between 1-8 teams, but I assure you, I am anything but.

I long ago severed any emotional attachment to the Lions, watching now only as an observer, indifferent to the flood of losses. Indifferent even to the victory over Washington earlier this season that broke the 19-game losing streak.

How do I know something magical happened last Sunday? Because I felt something. I felt excitement and outright stupid joy when, with zero seconds left on the clock, Matthew Stafford, who I was sure had a separated shoulder, fought off team doctors, trudged back out onto the field, and delivered the game-winning touchdown to complete the greatest comeback in Lions history.

I have seen just one quarterback ever do something like that before, and his name is Brett Favre.

This kid has heart, and lots of it.

This one magical play was so important because up until this game, Matthew Stafford was just another Joey Harrington to many Lions fans. A high-priced draft pick that had accomplished nothing but turning the ball over and not finding his star receiver.

Joey Harrington he is not. Did Harrington ever lead a fourth-quarter comeback? Would Harrington fight off team trainers and throw a clutch-as-they-come touchdown pass in writhing pain?

Stafford embodied the spirit of Detroit in that one play. Hard work, never say die attitude, and playing through pain. That's what you have to do to win over Detroiters.

Steve Yzerman did it. Barry Sanders did it. Joe Dumars did it.

Add Matthew Stafford to the list. If this is what this kid is made of, he's going to be loved in Detroit for a long time.

Yes, it was against the worst team in the NFL. Yes, it was in a meaningless game. Every legend has to start somewhere, though, and Stafford just wrote the first chapter in what will potentially be a long NFL career.

Joey Harrington never had this moment. Neither did Charlie Batch or Jon Kitna. In fact, no Lions Quarterback really had this moment since Bobby Layne in the '50s. 

Truth be told, this was only the second time since 1957 that Detroit had come back after being down by ten or more points.

The second time since 1957.

It was more than ten points down, too. It started out as a cruelly typical game for the Lions. Here was not only the most offensively-challenged team in the NFL, but one of the three worst NFL offenses of all-time in the inept Cleveland Browns.

So of course Brady Quinn and the Browns jumped out to a 24-3 lead before the first quarter was even over. In the past, I would have turned off the television at that point. I kept watching, though, because my emotionally-detached self wanted to see Cleveland run up the score even further, for my amusement.

Apparently I wasn't alone, because in a surreal moment of the bizarre, the denizens of Ford Field began cheering on the Cleveland Browns.

It may have been the mutiny of the crowd that flickered the light bulb inside the minds of the Detroit Lions, but things began to change from there.

The Lions offense was suddenly unstoppable. They were the offense that Matt Millen must have envisioned when he drafted Joey Harrington and gave him a gluttony of talented receivers to work with.

Here was Stafford hitting Kevin Smith for huge gains, and Calvin Johnson for huge gains, and Brandon Pettigrew for huge gains, so quick you wouldn't believe it.

And before you could believe it, the score was tied at 24-24. You would think this would snap me out of my haze of indifference, but I kept watching merely to answer the question, how will the Lions screw up the game today?

And screw it up they nearly did.

Up by four points in the fourth quarter, and backed up to his own one-yard line, a frantic Matthew Stafford threw the ball away in the end zone, but didn't reach the line of scrimmage.

Intentional grounding in the end zone is a safety. I didn't know that. Wow, I thought, they really do find new, creative ways to lose every week.

Now with the score at 31-29, Detroit would have to kick back to the Browns. Cleveland wouldn't score at that point, but they got their agonizing, knife-in-your-heart drive with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

That it was former Lions tight end Michael Gaines that caught the lead-changing touchdown, made it all the more bitter.

Upon getting the ball back, Matthew Stafford, playing the part of Joey Harrington, Jon Kitna, Charlie Batch, and Scott Mitchell, promptly threw an interception when he tried to hit Calvin Johnson in triple coverage.

The game was essentially over at this point. The Lions had just two timeouts and Cleveland only had to kill just under three minutes of clock; a task we have seen Lions opponents ably perform for decades.

But the Lions felt like toying with our emotions this day, so they burned their timeouts to stop the clock, and the defense rose up and stopped Cleveland's suddenly conservative offense. The Lions would get the ball back on their own 12-yard line with about a minute-and-a-half to go, and no timeouts.

Stafford then went to work, and I was sure as could be that there was no way he could lead Detroit on an 88-yard drive with less than two minutes remaining and no timeouts.

My suspicions seemed to be confirmed when Stafford repeatedly hit his receivers in the the middle of the field. Again and again, they couldn't get out of bounds and Stafford had to rush to the line and spike the ball.

This, however, was what Cleveland was willing to give up. They took away the deep ball and they took away the sidelines.

Finally, we were down to eight seconds to go and Detroit was down to Cleveland's 30-yard line. Enough time for two end zone shots, said the announcers. I agreed.

Stafford took the snap and immediately came under pressure. He scrambled out of the pocket and still couldn't find anyone open! The clock ticked zero. Stafford now had to go for all or nothing. He spun out and heaved a desperation throw.

The pass had no chance. Defenders swarmed over Calvin Johnson, and Matthew Stafford was nailed hard right after releasing the pass.

He didn't move.

Then the yellow flags were thrown. Pass interference. On a Hail Mary play? Seriously?

NFL rules state that a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, and so the Lions were awarded a final play with the clock at zero seconds.

Pass interference in the end zone, by rule, gave the Lions the ball at Cleveland's one-yard line.

Hey, we'll take it.

At this point, Dominic Raiola was trying to pull Stafford up and screaming at him that the officials had given Detroit another play. Stafford was escorted off the field by trainers, though, as it appeared he had injured his collarbone or shoulder, and out came Daunte Culpepper.

This was the worst possible scenario. We had Matthew Stafford, who up until this point had given Detroit the game of his life. He had thrown for over 400 yards and four touchdowns, which equaled up to this point, the greatest performance by a rookie quarterback in NFL history.

All of it would be for nought if a cold Daunte Culpepper came out and blew this play.

Then, like a gift from the heavens, Cleveland called a timeout. I'm sure Eric Mangini just wanted to get his defense focused for the play. He never could have envisioned Matthew Stafford fighting off four team doctors to painfully trudge back out onto the field.

It was here that Stafford took the snap and on pure adrenaline and probably with a separated shoulder, heaved the game-winning pass to Brandon Pettigrew. Pure agony followed, but I'm sure if Stafford could have forced a smile, he would have.

Beware the one-armed man.

Stafford will have more ups and downs from here, more highs and lows, but he now has the best performance by a rookie quarterback in NFL history: 400 yards and five touchdowns. No one can take that away from him.

He also now has the city and the team behind him, and I'm sure that's more valuable than numbers.

The Lions are still very much a work in progress, but at least they have their quarterback. They don't need to worry about that any longer. It's a small step, but a giant leap at the same time.

Matthew Stafford is here to stay.