Detroit Lions: How Matt Stafford Can Finally Deliver a Pro Bowl Season in 2011

In 1971, Greg Landry made the Pro Bowl as starting quarterback of the Detroit Lions.

Isn’t it time we stop talking about that?

Matthew Stafford’s viability as starting quarterback of the Detroit Lions is one of the most difficult hurdles standing between the team and long-term success.

Likewise, the biggest hurdle standing between Stafford and long-term success is, well, literally his viability.

The general consensus regarding Stafford is that he has everything he needs to succeed: arm, athleticism, knowledge, receivers, mindset. And he has shown flashes of greatness in the time he has spent on the field.

He just needs to show more flashes, more consistently, over the course of a lot more time on the field.

This is the year for Stafford to do just that. As Stafford continues to make up for lost time as he works out in the pseudo-offseason, concerns about his health among the Lions faithful seem to be waning.

For starters, to misquote an old SNL skit, it looks like somebody has “pumped *clap* HIM up.”

Compare, if you will, 2009 Combine Stafford to 2011 Informal Workout Stafford. It’s hard to tell clearly, but the kid has probably put on 10 pounds of upper-body muscle as part of his rehab assignment.

Stafford hasn’t just regained his strength. He has gained more strength than he’s ever had before, and he’s knocking his receivers’ hands off as a result.

And Stafford’s new pecs aren’t just for show or arm strength. They’re extra padding for his throwing shoulder, which should make it much more difficult for any defensive ends to deal serious damage to the young quarterback.

Of course, health and arm strength do not necessarily equal Pro Bowl performance. Just look at Jay Cutler. Or JaMarcus Russell.

What they do equal is a template on which Stafford can build his first Pro Bowl appearance. All he needs is a full season. He now has a veritable cavalcade of weapons surrounding him, the likes of which he has never had either in Detroit or Georgia.

I have long said that Stafford is still a rookie in terms of playing time, and might have a few “rookie moments” left in him as he begins the 2011 season, but I don’t expect that to prevent him from posting huge numbers overall.

But this is the Pro Bowl we’re talking about. Numbers aren’t what really matters, what matters is winning and public exposure.

Calvin Johnson missed the Pro Bowl during his best statistical year (2008), because the Lions were an awful team. In 2010, when the team finished a more respectable 6-10, he made it, despite posting less receptions and yards than 2008.

Stafford is going to have Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Drew Brees to contend with if he wants a Pro Bowl selection. All are extremely good quarterbacks on winning teams. And all of them acquired new offensive weapons in the draft.

Stafford has new toys, too, but he has the Lions’ stigma to overcome if he wants to make any noise at all in fan voting. With the way the average fan votes, he will have to be far-and-away better than his competition, and the Lions will have to be at least in the .500 range.

Of course, Stafford can also use that Lions stigma to his advantage. If he comes out and starts filling up stat sheets (preferably on the way to wins), he can ride some of that “surprise team/player of the year” attention to make his a household name around the NFL.

And that’s really what Stafford needs: recognition. If he’s a good player with big numbers who isn’t getting any media attention, those fan votes are going to pass him by.

And what better way to earn some notoriety than torching the Chicago Bears, the team responsible for injuring him twice, on national television during Monday Night Football?

That game will be a turning point, both in the public perception of the Lions, and of Stafford himself. The Lions Bandwagon Express will need to add a few more cars if Stafford performs well on the second-biggest stage in regular season football (or the biggest, Thanksgiving).

That’s the kind of game Stafford needs to put his name on the map. I’m sure Lions fans would be just as happy with him quietly leading the Lions to 10 wins, but if we’re talking Pro Bowl appearance, he needs to make some noise.

Maybe then we can move on from the Greg Landry era.