The Detroit Lions are on a major 0-5 losing streak and are spiraling out of control with quarterback Matthew Stafford playing some of his worst football ever. Things were so bad in Week 5 that the struggling quarterback was benched for poor performance in the third quarter.
Yet, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi sees the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to his floundering quarterback.
“I like the trajectory he’s on,” Lombardi said of the quarterback that leads the NFL with eight interceptions (via The Detroit News). “You could be a little soured by this last game because of the number of turnovers, but I don’t think that’s — last year he protected the ball well.”
Obviously, Stafford is not protecting the ball this season, and it is now that matters, not “last year.” He tossed three whopping interceptions before being benched in last Sunday’s blowout home loss 42-17 to the Arizona Cardinals and got booed badly in the process.
In spite of Stafford’s struggles, Lombardi made excuses for his mistakes and expressed his confidence that last game’s mishaps are behind him.
“A lot of his turnovers have been things where maybe it’s not necessarily like he’s making poor decisions. Some of it’s bad luck or someone not running the route exactly correct whatever the case may be. … He’s not going to have a ton of three-interception games going forward; I promise you that.”
If Stafford wasn’t to blame for the team’s erroneous playing last week, then why was he benched in the third quarter at a point of no return?
So far in 2015, Stafford has the lowest passer rating (74.8) since his rookie year. Additionally, he is averaging just 6.2 yards per attempt and is on course to throw 26 interceptions versus 19 touchdowns if he continues on the same path.
Lombardi did acknowledge that ball protection for Stafford is key.
“He’s got to protect the football better. When he does that, we’re going to be winning football games, all right? But his completion percentage is up, we need to get some bigger plays.”
Stafford must correct his ways, and at least he has the support of his offensive coordinator. From the tone of Lombardi’s comments, it doesn’t appear as if Stafford’s job is in jeopardy at this time. However, if the team continues its losing streak with Stafford churning out costly turnovers, we may be hearing a different tune from Lombardi and the Lions brass the next time they address the press.