Matthew Stafford Just Reopened A Painful Debate For Lions Fans

Despite Davante Adams' high praise for Matthew Stafford's tenure with the Rams, his comments cast a shadow over the Detroit Lions and what might have been.

Matthew Stafford’s latest statement game in Los Angeles drew plenty of attention, and Davante Adams made sure to turn the spotlight up even more.

After Stafford carved up the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, Adams used an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show this week to rave about the veteran quarterback’s place in NFL history. The Rams receiver said Stafford would be viewed differently if he had spent his entire career with Sean McVay in Los Angeles.

Stafford, the first overall pick by Detroit in 2009, spent 12 seasons with the Lions before moving on. During that stretch, the team reached the postseason only three times from 2009-2020, a detail Adams pointed to while talking about how much winning shapes a quarterback’s legacy.

"The tough part about being a quarterback in his league is so much of your success and how good you are, how legendary you will become is based off of winning. And obviously, you start off in a place like Detroit, and they were not winning at the rate that the Rams have been here.

He's been here since 2021," said Adams. "If his whole career had been here, with a guy like Sean (McVay), they would be saying is this guy literally the best quarterback that have ever played.

Winning games, obviously, helped a lot of that. I always respect the guys that can do it consistently for a really long time.

"There are guys that flash, I think the NFL community, all the fans out there, they always want to crown a new king and find a new toy," Adams continued. "At the end of the day, the guys that can go out and do it continuously for years and years, when guys have a whole bunch of tape on them, understand what they like to do, what their small little nuances are that make them good, but when you can still go out and manipulate defenses the way he can, the no-look deal is a like a legitimate tool for him. ..."

Adams also said Stafford has the kind of steady presence that lets him keep rolling no matter what the game throws at him. He added that former Packers teammate Aaron Rodgers shared that same trait.

Stafford backed up the praise in the Rams’ 28-6 win, finishing 22 of 31 for 327 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

In Other News...

Taylor Decker Could Face A Rival Option Lions Fans Will Hate

Taylor Decker is still on the open market after asking for his release from the Lions, and the longtime Detroit left tackle has yet to land with a new team. For now, the situation has mostly been about waiting and watching, with Decker's next stop still unclear as teams around the league sort through their own roster needs.

One of those needs just opened up in Green Bay, where right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon. The Packers could look for help on the offensive line, and Decker is a logical name to surface even though he has spent most of his career on the left side. Nothing official has been reported, but the possibility alone is the kind of twist Lions fans would rather not see. [Read more 🡒]

Jamaal Williams Reunion Buzz Puts Lions Running Back Depth In Focus

Jamaal Williams is back on the Lions radar, at least in the conversational sense, after the former Detroit running back said he would be open to a return following his time away from football since the 2024 season. Williams, who was a popular part of the locker room during his 2021-22 stint in Detroit, reached out to coach Dan Campbell about the possibility of a comeback, a note that naturally lands in a season where the Lions are already navigating injuries and workload concerns in the backfield.

For now, though, Campbell said Detroit is holding steady at running back and has not made any move toward adding Williams. Even so, the fact that the door is not fully shut keeps a familiar name in the mix if the Lions depth chart changes, which is exactly the sort of thing worth watching as the season wears on. [Read more 🡒]

Lions Get A Timely Alim McNeill Check As Defensive Questions Grow

The Lions spent Wednesday sorting through a few familiar midweek injury and availability questions, but the biggest one brought a reassuring answer. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill did not practice, yet he is expected back on Thursday and is not believed to be in danger of missing the upcoming game against the Jets. On an injury report that also points toward returns for offensive linemen Christian Mahogany and Blake Miller after both sat out the previous game, Detroit at least appears to be getting a little healthier at a useful time.

Health, of course, is only part of the conversation around this team right now. Dan Campbell also pushed back on the recent criticism aimed at defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and said he expects Sheppard to stay in his role, a vote of confidence that arrives as the defense continues to draw scrutiny. For a Lions group trying to steady itself before a short turnaround, the combination of returning players and coaching support gives the week a little more clarity, even if not all the questions around the defense have gone away. [Read more 🡒]