Detroit Fan here. Yes we are long suffering. We haven’t won anything in the NFL since 1954 with hard driving rough riding Bobby Lane. I believe that much has to do with a teams quarterback. Finding a franchise quarterback in the NFL is no easy feat. Some teams spend decades trying to find the one who can lead them to the promised land and still come up short.The list is long of number one QBs that were touted as the 2nd coming and have faded away without a remembrance..
Of all the big moves that have happened in the last year. The most talked about is the quarterback swap that occurred between the LA Rams and the Detroit Lions. The Rams acquired veteran gunslinger Matthew Stafford, while the Detroit Lions acquired up and comer Jared Goff and a spread of picks. Both quarterbacks have a large upside, but at the same time, both quarterbacks also come with significant baggage. Stafford has made his way to the playoffs, but hasn’t done much once he has got there. Goff has gotten all the way to the Super Bowl. He did so with a top notch defense and the best running back in the league at the time. Yet he lost
Stafford’s true value has been blurred by many factors. One of those is having to carry a consistently underwhelming Lions franchise. The Lions, more often than not, have had poor defenses. The have trotted out non descript running backs resulting in a non-existent running game. On the other side of the coin. Some might say Stafford’s numbers have been inflated by playing in a pass happy offense. It didn’t hurt that he played six years with one of the best wide receivers of all time in Calvin Johnson. The two combine for 528 receptions for 8,434 yards and 58 touchdowns together
Goff, on the other hand, has seen a decent amount of success. Questions about his capabilities come from a different direction. Goff has taken the Rams to three playoff appearances and a Super Bowl appearance in his short career. Yet his critics have said that he was holding his team back from their true potential. Some have said that with a different quarterback, the Rams would have won Super Bowl XXXVI. It should be mentioned that he was up against Tom Brady and a pretty good New England team. The Patriots were a much more experienced playoff juggernaut. Belichick and Brady had won super Bowls. For Goff and his coach, Seam McVey. It was their first.
Needless to say this leaves both quarterbacks with a large chip on their shoulder. Can Stafford prove that he is as good as his numbers dictate? Can he shine brighter with a well rounded team? Can Goff prove that his Super Bowl appearance was not a fluke. Can he lift Detroit to a higher level of success? Maybe even to something that hasn’t happen since 1991. A 1st round playoff win?
Only time will tell.