<
>

The blitz as opportunity? That's how Matthew Stafford sees it

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Opponents have tried all season long. They’ve seen an offensive line that has struggled. They’ve seen a quarterback who doesn’t have a great percentage under pressure. So when teams have faced the Detroit Lions, they’ve blitzed and blitzed and blitzed some more.

And for the most part, Matthew Stafford has handled it.

Stafford has been blitzed 34.6 percent of the time this season, fifth most among quarterbacks. He has seen more blitzes (128) than every signal-caller in the league except for Philadelphia's Carson Wentz, who has faced 137. Stafford doesn’t mind. In some cases, he kind of likes it.

“Yeah, I think the majority of times, it creates opportunities,” Stafford said. “Opportunities in the pass game and chances. Obviously if they’re rushing me with more people, there’s less people to tackle guys who have the ball downfield.

“So we’ve done a nice job making some plays.”

Stafford solved the blitz Sunday against Cleveland, completing 83.3 percent of his passes (10 of 12) with 158 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was perfect in the fourth quarter against the Browns, completing all five of his pass attempts for 90 yards and both touchdowns against the blitz.

It’s the second consecutive week Stafford has been excellent when being blitzed. Against the Packers, he completed 66.7 percent of his passes (12 of 18) for 252 yards and a touchdown. The 252 yards were a career high for Stafford against the blitz, and the most by any NFL quarterback since Minnesota's Teddy Bridgewater in 2015 against Arizona.

The two games have been among the best in Stafford’s career against the blitz, but he doesn’t think he’s seeing it better. It’s more a function of everything in the Lions' offense.

“I think our guys up front are doing a great job of communicating and protecting," Stafford said. "Our backs are doing a nice job picking up guys across the formation or whatever it might be.

“And our guys are making plays, and I’m giving them chances down the field.”

That has been part of why Detroit’s offense has been successful the past two weeks. Stafford has averaged 10 yards or more per attempt against the blitz in consecutive games, only the fifth time in his career he has done so. He was also able to handle the Falcons’ blitz earlier this season, completing 83.3 percent of his passes (6 of 7) at 11 yards per attempt.

It’s also the first time since 2015 that Stafford has thrown for more than 100 yards against the blitz in back-to-back games. And being able to pick up the blitz -- from the line to the receivers to Stafford’s sense of it -- helped Detroit win both of those games.

“It’s just execution, everybody involved, myself included,” Stafford said. “So the better we do that, on really every play -- blitz or no blitz -- the better we’re going to be.”

Lions coach Jim Caldwell doesn’t believe Stafford has handled the blitz better this season than others, and he might be right. Stafford’s completion percentage against the blitz this season is No. 25 in the league at 55.5 percent. His passer rating of 86.0 against it is No. 23.

Stafford has been sacked more times against the blitz (17) than any other quarterback in the NFL this season. He has also thrown for a league-high 876 yards while blitzed. The past two weeks have helped with the yardage and his accuracy.

So while Caldwell doesn’t think Stafford has handled the blitz better the past two weeks, the numbers show otherwise. If Stafford and the 5-4 Lions can keep that going, it could be a benefit the rest of the way.

Facing the Lions in Week 11 will be the Chicago Bears, who have blitzed on 23.8 percent of opponent dropbacks, per ESPN Stats & Information. Chicago's 26 sacks are tied for seventh in the NFL, and the Bears (3-6) are sixth in the league in sacks per attempt (9.1 percent). The Bears have gotten pressure 25.9 percent of the time on opposing quarterbacks.

In Week 10, they blitzed a season-high 51.7 percent of the time against Green Bay and backup quarterback Brett Hundley.

Two big beneficiaries of Stafford's performance against the blitz this season have been Lions receivers Marvin Jones and Golden Tate. Tate leads the league in receptions against a blitz (22) and yards after the catch (190). He is third in targets (32) and fifth in yards (305). Jones is 11th in yards (227).

“I think we all understand the offense a lot better," Tate said of working against the blitz. "It allows us to play a lot faster and see things a little bit easier."