Consistency from Matthew Stafford Key for Lions in Wild Card vs. Cowboys

Ndamukong Suh is once again eligible to play Sunday in the NFC Wild Card Round, but his availability following an overturned suspension will mean mostly nothing if the Detroit Lions do not receive more consistent quarterback play from Matthew Stafford.

While Suh's return should give the Lions a fighting chance against the Dallas Cowboys' productive rushing offense, it is Stafford who holds the key to unlocking Detroit's first road playoff win in 57 years. 

The Lions are difficult—bordering on impossible—to beat when Stafford plays well. He finished four games with a passer rating over 100.0 this season, and the Lions won all four of those contests by an average margin of 15.5 points.

	Cmp%	Yards/Att	TD/INT	Passer Rating
Win (11 games)	64.5	7.6	17/8	93.1
Loss (5 games)	51.5	6.1	5/4	70.2

The rating-win correlation has been evident throughout Stafford's career. He has 15 career games with a passer rating over 105.0; the Lions won 14 and lost only one.   

Combine an efficient passing game with Detroit's third-ranked scoring defense, and the Lions are capable of beating any team left in the playoff field, including the 12-4 Cowboys in Dallas. 

The problem remains consistency. Stafford simply lacks the attribute from play to play, drive to drive and game to game. 

While he finished four games with a passer rating over 100.0 in 2014, he also completed five under 75.0. In fact, he only broke 90.0 on the passer-rating scale during the four games he also went over 100.0. That leaves 12 games under 90.0, which, in today's NFL, has become a highly attainable rating. 

Case in point: 16 NFL quarterbacks finished the 2014 season with a total passer rating over 90.0. Stafford, meanwhile, ended the year at 85.7, his third straight season under 90.0. 

It certainly isn't all on Stafford. The Lions haven't blocked well in either the pass or run game in 2014, and key players—such as receiver Calvin Johnson and running back Reggie Bush—have missed chunks of time this season. He is also in the first year of a new offensive system under Joe Lombardi, and there have been growing pains. 

Still, a quarterback like Stafford must be more consistent within a game, especially if the Lions expect to go into Dallas and beat the Cowboys. A look back at Detroit's 30-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 provides ample evidence of Stafford's hot-and-cold cycle. 

One series after taking an unnecessary sack on third down to open the game, Stafford faced 3rd-and-long from deep in Lions territory. He essentially threw the football away down the sidelines, in the vicinity of receiver Corey Fuller. 

Here is what Stafford missed: 

NFL Game Rewind

It's possible tight end Eric Ebron, who is highlighted in the blue rectangle, would have been stopped short of the first down, but most likely not. He was wide-open. Instead of the easy completion, Stafford took the low-percentage throw down the sideline, where safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was closing over to bracket the receiver. Incomplete. Lions punt. 

Missing one open receiver on a stressed third down is forgivable. But the mistakes continued. 

On the very first play of Detroit's third series, Stafford attempted to hit Johnson on a slant from the slot. Packers cornerback Tramon Williams played inside leverage and knocked the pass away. The miss was important because Stafford completely ignored Bush, who was lined up wide of Johnson and running a straight-go route against the single coverage of linebacker Sam Barrington. Running back on linebacker was a matchup the Lions should have taken advantage of. 

NFL Game Rewind

Two misses came on the next series. Stafford first had Johnson running open a step or two behind the defense, but his throw was just a few yards too deep. A 60-yard touchdown and big-play opportunity was lost. Seven plays later, Stafford rolled to his right but completely overshot an open Golden Tate on fourth down. A chance to score was instead a momentum-turning defensive stop for the Packers. 

The early mistakes become even more frustrating after watching Stafford on Detroit's fourth and fifth drives. He was clinical on both, passing with anticipation and accuracy. He converted third downs and made two tremendous throws in the red zone to Johnson for touchdowns. 

There was just no consistency to Stafford's play. 

The Lions' next possession ended in a three-and-out after three straight incompletions. The game then turned on its head when running back Joique Bell mishandled Stafford's handoff on the first play of the next series. What was a 14-14 game suddenly turned into a 28-14 lead for the Packers, despite the Lions only running four offensive plays. 

Stafford did finish with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. But he also completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes and averaged 5.3 yards per attempt, giving him another mediocre passer rating of 89.2. 

	Cmp %	Yards/Att	TD/INT	Passer Rating
at CAR	56.3	6.1	1/1	72.5
vs. GB	64.7	7.2	0/2	61.6
at ARI	60.0	6.1	0/1	63.6
at NE	39.1	5.7	0/1	49.5
at GB	48.8	5.3	3/0	89.2
	52.8	6.0	4/5	67.5

Stafford's inefficiencies in Green Bay highlight the razor-thin margin of error when playing a good football team, especially on the road. Miss just a handful of opportunities, and a winnable game can get away. 

The Lions' road woes against teams with winning records (0-17 with Stafford under center) are well-documented. Detroit is already 0-4 away from home against playoff teams this season. Stafford didn't play particularly well in any of the four games, including disastrous performances against the Arizona Cardinals (183 yards, 63.6 passer rating) and New England Patriots (28 incompletions, 49.5 passer rating) over back-to-back weeks in November. 

Consistency is the difference between good and great, and Stafford hasn't found a way to get over the hump. The Lions can't go into Dallas and beat the Cowboys without Stafford playing a consistent, efficient contest.

The Cowboys are going to score points with Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant. Romo was the best quarterback in football over the final month, Murray rushed for a league-high 1,845 yards and Bryant caught 16 touchdowns. Dallas averaged 41.3 points over the last four games.

Amazingly, the final gap in passer rating between Romo and Stafford was 27.5 points. 

If the Lions are to advance in the NFC playoffs Sunday, Stafford will have to close such an obvious gap in efficiency at quarterback. Consistency from play to play and drive to drive is his only way to do so. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2