Matthew Stafford 60 Minutes Away from Shedding Stench of Lions Past

Twelve seasons, three playoff appearances and no postseason victories. In the eyes of a particular sect of Lions fans, that one sentence -- whether fair or unfair -- describes a significant chunk of the story of Matthew Stafford's time in Detroit.

He's now one win away from making that woeful part of his otherwise productive career old news, though.

Stafford and his new team, the Los Angeles Rams, will take on Jimmy Garappolo and the San Francisco 49ers later today (6:30 p.m. EST) to decide who will represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVI.

During his media session Wednesday, Stafford talked about getting ready to play in the NFC Championship Game for the first time.

"Going about it kind of as a normal week. It's the first normal week we've had a little bit, obviously, playing the first playoff game on a Monday, the second one on a short week. So, this one just feels like a normal week during the season, obviously a lot at stake. We know that," Stafford told reporters. "Playing a really good opponent that's playing as good of football as anybody in the NFL right now. So, it'll be a big challenge for us, but we're excited about the opportunity."

When he takes the field at SoFi Stadium for the NFC Championship Game, as much as he'll have his fair share of detractors among the Lions fanbase for his lack of playoff success in the Motor City, he'll have a lot more Detroit fans rooting him on and wanting to see him punch his ticket to the Super Bowl.

Why, you may ask?

It's because Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, didn't fail the Lions. Instead, the organization failed him.

This isn't just conjecture, either. It's pure fact.

From the time he was drafted to his final season in Motown in 2020, Detroit's various front-office regimes -- the constant turnover in the front office was a part of the problem -- annually failed to build a quality enough roster for Stafford to win with.

He was constantly left short-handed at several positions, including at running back.

During his 12 years with the Lions, only once did a running back accumulate 1,000 yards on the ground in a season.

It came back in 2013 when Reggie Bush rushed for 1,006 yards.

All the while, Stafford put Detroit's offense -- and often the entire team -- on his back.

The Georgia product threw for a Lions franchise record 282 touchdowns and 45,109 yards in 165 career games in Detroit.

As pretty as those numbers are, I know that some of you think the following when you see those stats: "Well, he didn't accumulate those numbers in meaningful games. They only came in garbage time when the Lions were down big and the game had basically already been decided."

To take it a step further, that aforementioned line of thinking is why the nickname "Stat Padford" became popular among so many Detroit fans and critics of Stafford's game.

Yet, those stats don't come close to telling the whole story when it comes to the tenure that No. 9 had in the Motor City.

You might've forgotten already, but on multiple occassions, he proved to be one of the clutchest quarterbacks in all of football.

In fact, he spearheaded a franchise-best 31 fourth-quarter comebacks and 38 game-winning drives during his decade-plus stint in Detroit.

Those above stats -- which have been tracked by the NFL since 1960 -- placed him ninth all-time in fourth-quarter comebacks (tied with Denver Broncos legend John Elway) and 10th all-time in game-winning drives (tied with Baltimore Colts all-time great Johnny Unitas).

Those are two Pro Football Hall of Fame signal-callers that Stafford's in the company of right there. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Since joining the Rams, he's also added to those figures. He now owns 34 fourth-quarter comebacks (tied for fifth all-time with Unitas) and 42 game-winning drives (tied with the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan for seventh-most in NFL history).

Sure, Stafford wasn't perfect during his time in Detroit, and he does deserve some of the blame for the organization's woes during his Lions tenure. He was prone to throwing the inopportune interception from time to time, and in fact, accounted for 23 pick-sixes during his time as a Lion.

That's far too many, and there certainly were instances where the pick-six derailed the Lions' chances of winning a game.

However, Stafford was nowhere close to the main reason why the franchise lost 90 of the 165 contests he suited up for. It was instead the organization's incompetence when it came to constructing a sufficient enough roster around him.

As the saying goes, sometimes you don't realize what you have until it's gone.

Sean McVay and the Rams are surely appreciative of Stafford's efforts this season, though, and now he's 60 minutes away from making his playoff past with the Lions a distant memory.