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Detroit Lions Vs. Minnesota Vikings: Matthew Stafford Deserves NFL MVP Consideration After Another Fourth Quarter Comeback

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 12:45 PST, Nov 6, 2016

The Detroit Lions led for the better part of four quarters against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, but the Vikings were able to score a touchdown with 0:23 seconds left in the fourth quarter that gave Minnesota a 16-13 lead, and what looked like a sure victory.

If you’ve watched any Detroit Lions games in 2016, you know that there isn’t any lead that’s safe with Matthew Stafford under center. Stafford completed an eight-yard pass to Golden Tate and then hit Andre Roberts for 27 yards to set the Lions up at the Vikings’ 40-yard line with 0:02 left. Kicker Matt Prater then came on to nail a 58-yard field goal that tied the game at 16 and sent it into overtime.

Detroit won the coin flip in overtime and chose to receive the kickoff. Stafford then orchestrated an 11-play, 87-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Tate that sent the Lions to their fifth win of the season. While the final play was a great individual effort by Tate to get in the end zone, Matthew Stafford did complete five-of-six passes on the final drive for 83 yards, according to ESPN.

Stafford finished the day 23-of-36 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. While those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, he was facing one of the top defenses in the NFL and was able to find a way to put the Lions within a half-game of the NFC North division lead heading into a Week 10 bye.

Not much was expected of the Detroit Lions in 2016. After all, the team finished 2015 with a 7-9 record and leading receiver Calvin Johnson decided to retire at 30-years-old. Megatron’s absence seemingly left a void in the Lions’ pass-heavy offense, but Stafford has been even more successful in 2016 without Johnson.

One of the biggest knocks on Matthew prior to this season was that he would turn the ball over by trying to force it into Calvin. Through the first nine weeks of 2016, Stafford has only thrown five interceptions and has career-highs in completion percentage, QBR, and quarterback rating. Instead of trying to pepper No. 81 with targets, Stafford is surveying the field and finding the open receiver.

Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, Theo Riddick, Eric Ebron, and Anquan Boldin all have at least 32 catches this season and have all been targeted at least 43 times through the first nine games. Matthew Stafford has truly embraced the philosophy of spreading the ball around and it’s done wonders for the Lions’ offense so far this season.

Part of the credit for Stafford’s success has to go to offensive coordinator, Jim Bob Cooter. Cooter took over for Joe Lombardi midway through the 2015 season and Stafford has been a completely different player under his tutelage. Jim Bob’s system involves a lot of short passes and screens in order to get the ball out of Matthew’s hands and into the hands of his playmakers.

Coming out of the bye week, the Lions play three of their next four games at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, and the Chicago Bears. The lone road game in that stretch will be in New Orleans against the Saints. With the Vikings’ struggles on the offensive side of the ball, Detroit has a serious chance of going 3-1 or 4-0 over that stretch which would put them at eight or nine wins heading into the final quarter of the season.

If the Detroit Lions end up making the playoffs this season, Matthew Stafford has to be near the top of the list for NFL MVP candidates.

[Featured Image by Stacy Revere/Getty Images]

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