.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Stafford can quiet critics with strong seventh NFL season
They danced, they kissed and they shared memories.
And, most importantly, they said, "I do."
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has enjoyed a very special offseason. He and longtime girlfriend Kelly B. Hall were married in April. The video clips of the big day were posted recently by Elysium Productions.
In about five more weeks, however, the honeymoon, so to speak, will be over for Stafford. That's when training camp begins.
Stafford is entering his seventh season in the NFL since being the first pick overall in 2009 coming out of Georgia. It's also going to be his second season in coordinator Joe Lombardi's offensive system.
Stafford has his share of critics and they will be watching him as closely as ever this year, ready to attack him for every failure.
Four years ago, at the age of 23, he completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 5,033 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while leading the Lions to their first playoff bid in more than a decade.
At that point, Stafford looked as if he could be headed to a Hall of Fame-type career, but it hasn't continued in that direction.
In the last three seasons, Stafford has completed 59.6 percent for an average of 4,624.7 yards, 23.7 touchdowns and 16 interceptions per season.
The Lions, meanwhile, severely regressed in 2012, winning just four games, before bouncing back to win seven in 2013 and then 11 last year to make the playoffs again.
Stafford seemingly went from gunslinger to more of a game-manager almost overnight in 2014. The plan now is to find the middle ground that is best for both the quarterback and the team.
"You want to be explosive and efficient at the same time," he said. "The way this league is, you throw for a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns, it's usually a successful season.
"I'm just going to continue to try to get better, make sure we're not turning the ball over, and we're making big plays."
In the end, it's bigger than the quarterback, but that's where the spotlight always goes.
The Lions' inability to win division titles and playoff games during Stafford's tenure is usually pinned on him.
"I know a lot of people that like to kind of point and say, 'Matthew's got to do this ...'" coach Jim Caldwell said. "Matthew just has to do his job."
From the coach's perspective, that's not just about posting impressive stats.
"Winning does not necessarily mean that you score 50 points a game," Caldwell said. "We're more interested in winning games. Sometimes that requires an offense to take care of the ball and not give it away and be very, very effective. We have a good defensive team. When you do that, you have to play complementary football.
"What we have to do is make certain we take care of the ball better. We have to improve upon our percentage of completions. We have to catch the balls that are thrown to us and we've got to keep people off our quarterback's back.
"We do those things, that's where the improvement's going to come."
A year ago, Stafford and the Lions didn't take some of the risks they had in the past in terms of trying to make big plays in the passing game.
Lombardi has said he'd like to change that to some extent this year and be more aggressive.
"Whether or not they're (opponents) going to give us the opportunity to take those shots or not is week in and week out," Stafford said. "It's on me when they do give those shots to not miss them and make sure we're being aggressive."
Probably the biggest knock on Stafford is that he's played in only two playoff games and lost both of them.
That includes a 24-20 loss at Dallas to end last season when 14-0 and 20-7 leads slipped away as the Lions scored only three points in the second half.
A controversial play in which a pass-interference penalty against the Cowboys got overturned created a lot of controversy, not to mention a build-in excuse for the Lions, but the fact is that Stafford and company failed to put the game away when they had the chance.
"I really don't think about it too much," Stafford said. "In this business, if you're thinking about what was, you've got issues. You've got to think about the present and try to get better that day and then think about what's ahead of you, what you're got coming up, especially at my position.
"I feel like I've trained my body and my mind for as long as I've played quarterback to forget the last play, forget the last game, whatever it was, good or bad, and go forward."
His critics aren't going to forget so easily. They want more and it's getting to the stage of his career where he needs to deliver if he's ever going to quiet them down.
