DETROIT – Former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was asked about the Ford Field atmosphere, being booed, and what it means to play here again after a thrilling overtime loss in the season opener.
Stafford put up excellent numbers once again Sunday night against his old team. After throwing for 367 yards and two touchdowns during the playoff game in January, Stafford went 34-for-49 in the rematch with 317 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
But it wasn’t enough, as the Lions kicked a late field goal to sent the game into overtime and won it with a David Montgomery touchdown. Stafford lost the coin toss and never got a chance to possess the ball in the extra period.
“It kind of boils down to the last time we came here,” Stafford said. “Similar circumstances in the fact that we didn’t come away with enough points in the red zone. Obviously, right before the half, had a really nice drive, I turned the ball over.
“I don’t hate the decision, just don’t like the ball that I threw. Higher and harder probably gets us a touchdown in a better spot, but that was a tough one, we don’t come away with points.
“Had another chance, went for it on fourth down, didn’t come away with points, and then had to get -- we were on the 1-yard line and settle for three points, too. That was kind of the name of the game for us. We had our opportunities, but weren’t able to capitalize on them.
“Still, at the end of the game, if I can hit that ball to Cooper (Kupp) -- we were just a little bit on different pages on where we were heading on that one, and I totally understand what he was doing. It’s part of the game. it’s the game of football. Humbling, but fun to compete.”
There’s been some tension between Stafford and Detroit since last year’s 24-23 Lions victory in the wild card round. Fans booed him heartily and went out of their way to chant the name of Jared Goff, the new face of the franchise.
Stafford was asked Sunday if he’s over getting booed and hearing the Goff chants when he comes to Detroit.
“I am, yeah,” Stafford said. “It’s fine with me.”
The reporter followed up by asking if, at this point, Detroit is just another place to play.
“Yep,” Stafford said.
When asked about the atmosphere inside Ford Field, Stafford was complimentary. But it was clear he didn’t want to dive too deep into the topic.
“It was good,” Stafford said. “I thought it was a fun place to play, crowd was into it. Obviously, a great football game. That helps. That helps make the crowd get into it. Back and forth all day, so it was a good atmosphere.”
Stafford spent most of the night carving up the Lions on quick, short passes to Kupp, Demarcus Robinson, and Tyler Johnson. He talked about that one missed opportunity on the final full drive, when the Rams had a chance to run out the clock with a first down.
“That was the game,” Stafford said. “Had a chance to win it, you know? Every game there are plays you want back, and that’s definitely one of them. I like to think that I can hit that throw a bunch of times in a row, so just disappointed that we didn’t get it done, but I was proud of the way we battled. Some guys had to step up, and they did. That was cool to watch and cool to see, so, proud of those guys.”
Stafford was asked if the Rams’ heavy reliance on the quick passing game was more a result of what the Lions were doing or his offense’s mounting number of key injuries to offensive linemen.
“I think both,” Stafford said. “They were doing some unique things personnel-wise, early down stuff that was promoting us to throw the football early. When you’re throwing it on early downs, a majority of the times you’re just trying to stay ahead of the sticks. You’re just trying to treat that kind of like a run play. If you get four, you’re happy. If you get 10, great. It’s just kind of the way we intended on attacking their defense, and some of the stuff they were doing personnel-wise, it just led to more of that happening, I would assume.”
If you’re interested in the rest of Stafford’s postgame press conference, the rest of his quotes are included below.
On his right ankle
“I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Stafford said. “Well, I won’t, but…”
On the injuries to the Rams offensive line
“It is what it is,” Stafford said. “We’re professional football players. It’s what we do. It’s what we practice. I was really proud of the way those guys played, to be honest with you. There were some unfortunate things that happened up front with guys getting injured and not being able to come back in the game, and those guys battled through.
“We were already kind of thin at that spot with some of the stuff going on at our tackle position there for a little bit, so for those guys to step in and play the way they did, I was super proud of them. We dropped back and threw the ball — I don’t know how many times we threw it — but we threw it a decent amount of times today and I thought they did a really nice job of battling. It’s never going to be perfect, but they battled.
“Our guys on the outside who had to come in and step up when Puka (Nacua) couldn’t come back in the game either, they really battled, as well.”
What’s the hardest part about rotating through several different offensive linemen?
“Taking snaps from centers, but those guys were lights out today,” Stafford said. “They were great. Beaux Limmer’s first snap was a little high and hot, but he had some juice, which I can imagine. First snap in the NFL, pistol, on the road, here we go. A little high and hot. We handled it, but the rest of the day was smooth operating.
“You can’t prevent injuries. You go out there any play. I think our guys are going to do everything they can to try to get back as fast as they can and we’ll see who’s got what. Hopefully we can get some of our tackles back … but we’ll see. I think the best thing you can do is just continue to push those guys, continue to operate. Proud of the way they competed today. I know those guys were giving it everything they had and it showed up.”
On Cooper Kupp’s big game
“That’s what I’ve been seeing at practice,” Stafford said. “That’s how I know he is. I’d love to know what his yardage was running today. We were asking him to move all over the place and handle a whole lot of things, both in the pass game and the run game. He leads that room really well. That’s why you see those other guys step in and come in and play the way they do. Proud of him, happy for him that he played the way he did today. Like myself, we’re just hard on ourselves and want to make every play if we possibly can. But I was proud of the way he competed today.”
On Puka Nacua leaving the game due to injury
“I’ll just speak to who he is as a player, right?” Stafford said. “He’s really physical, got better long speed than people think. He had an unbelievable season last year. A guy that has built up a lot of trust and equity with me just in the fact that we’ve played together and he’s had some success. We’ll see what it is. I have no idea, to be honest with you, but he’s obviously a big part of our offense. But I do think that T.J. and those guys stepped in and did a really nice job today.”
Was he encouraged by the team’s performance?
“I’m encouraged with the effort, encouraged with the effort,” Stafford said. “There’s always room for improvement in execution and those things, but I’ll tell you: We don’t need room for improvement in effort. Our guys battled. It’s a tough environment to play in, a bunch of linemen going down, starting receiver going down, and our guys never blinked. It was great to see those guys in the huddle, just, ‘Next play, let’s go.’ It wasn’t easy, but found a way to get some points on the board, just not enough to close the thing out, which is frustrating and disappointing, but we’ve got the next week and that’ll get our attention here pretty quickly.”
Is the team’s mentality a reflection of Stafford?
“I hope I exude that, you know?” Stafford said. “I hope that they feel that from me. That’s what I try to do. Obviously, been doing this for a couple years and I’ve been through a bunch of different situations, and I try to be a steadying force in there and understand that I hope they know I’m giving it everything I’ve got on every single play, no matter what, and hopefully that inspires those guys to do the same.”
