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Stafford Shows Off Improved Footwork, Decision-Making In Season Debut

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

FORD FIELD (CBS DETROIT) - The Detroit Lions worked hard this offseason to bring in as much help as possible for quarterback Matthew Stafford. The team hired Jim Caldwell as head coach, Joe Lombardi as offensive coordinator and Jim Bob Cooter as quarterbacks coach; all three have worked with some of the league's elite quarterbacks. In Detroit's season debut in primetime Monday, it looked like all those acquisitions made the intended impact.

Stafford completed 22 of 32 attempts for 346 yards and two touchdowns against the New York Giants, whom the Lions dominated, 35-14.

Stafford emerged from the game with a 125.3 passer rating, but statistics tell only part of the story. Especially early in the game, Stafford looked terrific, evading defenders while maintaining his composure and locating and directing his targets.

Both Stafford's touchdown throws went to superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson. On the first score, Stafford snuck away from what appeared to be a sure sack, scrambling and finding a shockingly wide-open Johnson, who with nothing but green in front of him high-stepped into the end zone. On a second scoring strike to Johnson, Stafford again showed unprecedented mobility and demonstrated a perfect connection with Johnson as he signaled the wide receiver to fall the other way before throwing across his body and placing the ball right where only Johnson could reach.

Stafford detailed each of the plays - both which will likely end up on a SportsCenter highlight reel - after the game.

"The first one, they did a pretty decent job of covering us up, so I tried to buy a little bit of time, was able to make a guy miss, and really, truthfully was looking for [running back] Joique [Bell] in the flat just to pick up the first down, and the guy did a great job of reacting and covering him. I looked up and Calvin did a great job of uncovering from the sideline and kind of took the middle of the field. I had enough time to kind of peek out there and make sure nothing bad was going to happen, and threw him a ball and he did the rest, obviously.

"And then the second one, our offensive line did a great job," Stafford continued. "They had a blitz on and popped out and picked it up, gave me a step-up lane and I was able to move. I was trying to get him to move out there a little quicker, Calvin. I could just see that there was nobody back there, so I just tried to put a ball in a safe spot, in a good spot for him to go make a play, and it'll be fun to watch it on TV, get a better view of it, but I heard it was a pretty sweet catch."

Stafford also scored on the ground - and not on a quarterback sneak. He scrambled into open space and juked a defender on his impromptu five-yard jaunt to the end zone. After taking a hit upon crossing the goal line, Stafford turned his back and flipped the ball over his shoulder in celebration as the Lions took a 27-7 lead.

"Stepped up and decided to take off, saw the one little opening to the right and knew I probably didn't have the jets to get there but if I sold them enough I could maybe cut back, and [I] cut back, got in, saw [Jon] Beason coming at me," Stafford said. "I wasn't going to let him just hit me in the chest, so I tried to give him a little something and turn around, so I tried to give him a little something. I was just fired up."

The quarterback downplayed his obviously increased mobility, joking that the cut-back is his only move, but he acknowledged that an increased emphasis in footwork drills this offseason made a difference. Johnson seconded that.

"Hey man, I work out with Stafford sometimes in the offseason, and we've been doing a lot of footwork drills, and you see it paying off," Johnson said. "He's confident in his feet. Doing the footwork drills that we do, he runs well, he's running better than he has in the past, so he's going to be smart. He knows we need him out there, so he ain't going to do nothing crazy."

New York Giants v Detroit Lions
DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 08: Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions runs for a third quarter touchdown while playing the New York Giants at Ford Field on September 8, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Stafford made smart throws throughout the night, opting several times to simply throw the ball out of bounds rather than force a throw and risk an interception. In his decision-making, accuracy - 68.8 completion percentage - and mobility, Stafford looked vastly improved.

"Obviously Jim Bob Cooter and Joe Lombardi get the credit; obviously Matthew did the job, so he gets most of the credit, and then the other guys certainly do help him on a daily basis," Caldwell said. "It's something that they work on consistently. Getting a feel for the pocket, he's got a natural feel for it. He certainly slid away from pressure and got himself in a position where he could make some throws for us outside of the pocket. Matthew's got talent. Obviously it's, as we all know, inside the pocket and outside the pocket, I think is what makes him dangerous, and he can run the ball a little bit. That touchdown run was pretty good – bounced off a few people, but it still counts."

Caldwell said that while Stafford might not always move around quite so much, it was encouraging to see him passing efficiently even as he had to do so in some pressure situations.

"Because of the fact that New York's got a real fine front … it required that he move a little bit, got him off his spot a little bit in terms of the rush, and so he was able to slide and create some options for himself outside of the pocket, but the great thing about it is I think he's about 65 percent completion percentage," Caldwell said. "That's kind of what we'd like to see. Anything over 62 percent, you're moving in the right direction."

If Stafford keeps playing like he did Monday, the Lions may well be headed in the right direction too.

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