The Lions are 4-10. And while their franchise quarterback has more than 4,250 passing yards with two games to play, his passer rating is south of 80 this year -- which makes him arguably not a franchise quarterback. At least for now.
All year long, it has appeared that Stafford is throwing the ball differently, with more than a few Uncle Rico-style sidearm throws. He (Stafford, not Uncle Rico) addressed the topic in a radio interview with WXYT radio in Detroit.
“Very comfortable with my mechanics,” Stafford said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I feel good about them.”
As to the periodic sidearm throw, Stafford said he’s not doing anything differently than in the past.
“I really don’t feel like it’s too much different, to tell you the truth,” Stafford said. “I’m just trying to make the plays that are there. . . . I feel like I probably threw two balls sidearm [Sunday] and I think both of them were complete. If that’s a problem, then I don’t really know what to tell you.”
Stafford also says there’s no problem with coach Jim Schwartz’s ability to lead the team. “Absolutely not,” Stafford said. “Everybody in that locker room has a ton of respect for Coach Schwartz and he has everybody’s attention when he speaks. We believe in him, we’ve just got to put it together and play a little better football.”
They’ve got to play a lot better football. The Lions are 4-10, and they could end up being 4-12. Which is a far cry from a last year’s playoff appearance.