Lions QB Coach Shares Why Matthew Stafford Excels in Fourth-Quarter

Matthew Stafford has led the Detroit Lions on go-ahead scoring drives on 35 occasions in the fourth-quarter during his tenure.

On Sunday against Arizona, Stafford was able to lead his team on a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended the football game.

"I feel real comfortable in that situation," Stafford said following Detroit's victory. "That's the situation I want. I hate sitting on the bench and watching another phase try and win the game for us. So, I love it."

Detroit's franchise passer has always wanted to hang his hat on being reliable in the moments his team needs him the most.

"That's what I'm trying to hang my hat on. When the game is on the line, I want the ball, and I know we do on offense. So, it was great to get it done," Stafford said. Just have to be able to do it."

Quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan has seen it before. Stafford helping his team execute late in games in order to take the lead or to extend leads to secure a victory.

The key to executing in those pressure-packed moments is preparation, according to Ryan.

"First off, it's preparation," Ryan explained to SI All Lions on Tuesday. "He worked so hard throughout the week through film study and just getting to know our opponents. And then taking it from the mental side of it in the classroom out to the field and working on a Thursday afternoon in two-minute. He's played that scenario out and the different things that can happen and what would happen. He's done that throughout the week and obviously throughout his career and he's just ready for those moments."

Ryan added, "He's got that competitor attitude where he wants that ball at the end of the game and wants to have that partly on him to make those plays. And I think all those things combined. But for me, it's the preparation that prepares him for that. He's been through this scenario 100 times in his mind before it actually happens on Sunday afternoon."

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