Detroit’s Stafford to Pass Bobby Layne in Record Books
The Detroit Lions travel to face the Chicago Bears this Sunday in a matchup between two of the NFC North’s three teams tied for first in the division. Green Bay is the other.
Key to the game is how well Matthew Stafford the Lions quarterback can carve up the injury riddled defense of the Bears.
Stafford is in his fifth season as the Lions quarterback and will do something very soon that no quarterback for the Lions has done in more than 50 years. Stafford should break the franchise passing yardage record on Sunday that is currently held by Bobby Layne.
Stafford only needs 286 yards to pass the former Lions’ great. Layne had 15,710 through the air in 9 seasons with Detroit. Stafford has surpassed the 286-yard mark in half of the Lions games this season, but in Week 4 in their win over Chicago Stafford only had 242 yards, which was low for the season.
In his four and a half seasons, Stafford has 15,424 yards to go with 96 touchdown passes. He has throw and completed more passes in that period than Layne did in his entire career with the Lions.
If Stafford surpasses the record on Sunday it will be his 54th start for Detroit, which shows how much passing has become the norm in the league. Of course, without the great talent Stafford has he would not have accomplished the feat even if he threw on every down.
However, the comparison between Layne and Stafford has one odd twist. Both players attend the same high school in Dallas, Highland Park.
Odds are that Stafford will break every Layne record with Detroit as long as he stays in a Lions uniform.
Stafford’s durability over the past three seasons has helped him to reach the point he is currently at. Stafford has started every game for Detroit since the start of the 2011 season. In Chicago on Sunday, it will be Stafford’s 41st consecutive start for the Lions in the regular season.
To put that in better perspective, no other team in the division will have the same starting quarterback in every game this year after Seneca Wallace starts for the Packers on Sunday in place of injured Aaron Rodgers.
This season Stafford is also more consistent. He has 2,617 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Experts say Stafford is still in the learning curve, but is starting to make his way to the top tier of signal callers in the league.
Learning to throw the ball away and save a drive or to stay healthy has allowed Stafford to reach the point he is at now.
Regardless of the personal recognition he receives, Stafford’s mind is on leading his team to the postseason and a shot at the Super Bowl.
Move over Bobby Layne, Matthew Stafford is taking your place in the Detroit records books this weekend.
