John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Detroit Lions first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Georgia. He is the 4th quarterback in NFL history to throw over 5,000 yards in a single season, including one of three in the 2011 NFL season (Drew Brees and Tom Brady).
Early years
Stafford was born in Tampa, Florida to John and Margaret Stafford. He lived in Dunwoody, Georgia while his father attended graduate school at the University of Georgia. His family then moved to Dallas, Texas, and Stafford attended Highland Park High School. He was coached by Randy Allen and was widely considered to be one of the best high school quarterbacks in the United States in the Class of 2006, ranked ahead of Tim Tebow.
In 2005, he led his team to a perfect 15–0 record and won the Texas 4A Division I State Championship. During the playoff run, Stafford faced stiff competition from Jevan Snead and Ryan Mallett. Both gave Stafford very close games. Stafford had over 4,000 yards passing without playing the first three games of the season due to a knee injury. Stafford received numerous accolades including being named to the Parade All-America Team and the USA Today Pre-Season Super 25 in 2005. He also won the MVP and Best Arm awards at the 2005 EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and was named the 2005 EA Sports National Player of the Year. Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Stafford was listed as the #1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com.
Before he had even started a game at the collegiate level, analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. predicted, correctly, that Stafford would eventually be the first pick in the NFL Draft.
College career
Matthew Stafford eventually will be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Write that down. ”
—Football analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. on ESPN Radio in September 2006.
Freshman
Stafford graduated early from high school and enrolled at the University of Georgia in January, where he became the first true freshman Bulldog QB to start since Quincy Carter in 1998, and first out of high school to start since Eric Zeier in 1991. Stafford wore number 7 at Georgia. He completed five of 12 passes for 102 yards and one TD in a Georgia spring game.
Stafford debuted late in the season opener of the 2006 season against Western Kentucky and went 3 of 5 passing for 40 yards and a touchdown pass. During the season's third game, against South Carolina, starting quarterback Joe Tereshinski III was injured, forcing Stafford to come off the bench. Although he completed just 8 of 19 passes for 171 yards and three interceptions, Georgia won the game, 18–0. Against University of Alabama Birmingham the following week, Stafford made his first collegiate start. Georgia won, 34–0. Victories over Colorado and Mississippi improved Georgia's record to 5–0, but the heart of the conference schedule loomed.
The rest of the season was up and down for Stafford and the Bulldogs. Following home losses to both Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Coach Richt named Stafford the starter for the rest of the season ahead of Tereshinski. Stafford completed 20 of 32 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns in the 27–24 triumph over Mississippi State, and was named the SEC Freshmen of the Week for his efforts. Statistically, he had his best game of the season against the 5th-ranked Auburn Tigers. Stafford finished the game 14 of 20 for 219 yards and a touchdown, and added 83 rushing yards and a touchdown on 7 carries in Georgia's 37–15 upset win. The following week, Stafford led the Bulldogs on a 12-play, 64-yard drive and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in Georgia's 15–12 win over No. 16 Georgia Tech.
Stafford completed his freshman season by leading Georgia to a 31–24 come-from-behind victory over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, after the Bulldogs trailed 21–3 at halftime. Stafford threw for 129 yards and a second half touchdown to spark the comeback.
Sophomore
He threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the season opener. Against Alabama, the Bulldogs avoided an 0–2 start in SEC play by escaping Bryant-Denny Stadium with an overtime win. Stafford connected with senior wide receiver Mikey Henderson on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage in OT for the winning score. In UGA's win vs. No. 9 Florida, he completed 11 of 18 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long TD pass of 84 yards to Mohamed Massaquoi and a 53-yard TD pass to Henderson. The wins over Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech marked the first time that Georgia had defeated all three rivals in the same season since 1982.
Stafford had 175 yards passing and a TD pass during Georgia's 41–10 rout of the No. 10 Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. He completed 194 of 348 passes for 2,523 yards (194.1/game) and 19 TDs as well as two rushing TDs for the season.
Junior
Stafford was chosen to Athlon’s preseason Heisman Favorites Others To Watch list. Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and the AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll; the team also entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams, having won its last 7 games of the 2007 season. In the final regular season game against Georgia Tech, Stafford completed 24 out of 39 attempts for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns, setting a personal record for touchdowns in a single game. Stafford finished the season with 3,459 passing yards, the second most in school history, and 25 touchdowns, the single-season record for passing touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown in 2008. After defeating Michigan State 24–12 and winning the MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl, Stafford finished his three years at Georgia with a 3–0 record in bowl games and a 6–3 record in rivalry games (1–2 against Florida, 3–0 against Auburn, and 2–1 against Georgia Tech). Stafford chose to forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL Draft.
The "Stafford Effect"
The so-called "Stafford Effect" relates to the phenomenon seen at Stafford's high school alma mater, Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas, from 2006–2008, where the number of seniors who applied to University of Georgia rose dramatically in the three years following Stafford's departure to Athens, Georgia. In 2005, the year before Stafford went to Georgia, 35 seniors applied to the university, compared with 69 in 2006, 75 in 2007, and 106 in 2008. The "Stafford Effect" was chronicled in a feature story in Stafford's hometown newspaper, Park Cities People. Stafford remarked in the story, "I'm not sure I have anything to do with it. I think people realize Georgia is a good school to watch football and have a good time, just like in Highland Park."
Professional career
2013
On July 7, 2013, Stafford agreed to a 3-year, $53 million extension with the Lions. He will be guaranteed $41.5 million through 2017.
Stafford completed 23-of-35 passes for 242 yards, one touchdown and one pick on September 29 in a 40-32 win against the Bears. That gave him 14,069 yards through 49 games, surpassing Kurt Warner (13,864) for the best 50-game start to a career.
"I might (reflect on that) when I'm done playing someday," Stafford said. "I had no idea about that, or that it was coming. It's something that I'll probably look back on when I'm done and realize it was something pretty special."
Stafford also holds the 50-game record for completions at 1,214, over Marc Bulger's 1,115. He's second in career 300-yard passing performances through 50 games at 19, trailing Warner's 29.
Most passing yards through 50 games 1. Matthew Stafford (Lions) 14,069* 2. Kurt Warner (Rams) 13,864 3. Marc Bulger (Rams) 13,551 4. Dan Marino (Dolphins) 13,514 5. Peyton Manning (Colts) 12,939
Most completions through 50 games 1. Matthew Stafford (Lions) 1,214* 2. Marc Bulger (Rams) 1,115 3. Drew Bledsoe (Patriots) 1,073 4. Kurt Warner (Rams) 1,063 5. Carson Palmer (Bengals) 1,059
Most 300-yard passing performances through 50 games 1. Kurt Warner (Rams) 29 2. Matthew Stafford (Lions) 19* 2. Dan Marino (Dolphins) 19 4. Jay Cutler (Broncos) 13 4. Aaron Rodgers 13
Stafford led the Lions to a 5-3 record entering their mid-season bye. Stafford defeated the Cowboys 31-30 in the final game before the bye, throwing for 488 yards and a touchdown despite two interceptions; down 30-24 with just 62 seconds to work with and no timeouts Stafford completed a 23-yard pass to Calvin Johnson to the Cowboys 1-yard line; he hustled the team to the line as though to spike the ball, but instead jumped over the line for the winning touchdown with 14 seconds to go.
2012
While the 2011 season proved to be the best season of Stafford's young career, 2012 would be one full of setbacks. On the opening game against the St. Louis Rams, Stafford threw 3 interceptions to only 1 touchdown pass; the Lions nevertheless found a way to win the game, 27-23. Stafford and the Lions would lose the next three games, however, to the 49ers, Titans, and Vikings. In the ensuing weeks, the Lions would manage to win three games, including impressive comeback wins against the Seahawks and Eagles, and a complete dominating performance against the Jaguars. These would prove to be the final winning games of the Lions the 2012 season as they ended the season with an eight-game losing streak.
Stafford finished the season with 20 touchdown passes, a huge drop compared to the 41 he threw in 2011; 17 interceptions, one more than 2011, and second most in his career since his rookie season; 4,967 passing yards on 727 attempts (an NFL record; the previous record was 691 by Drew Bledsoe); and a QB rating of 79.8, the lowest since his rookie season. He also rushed for a career high 126 yards and 4 touchdowns.
2011: Team’s third-year starting quarterback who was named an offensive team captain for the second consecutive year. Has completed 385-of-604 passes (63.7 pct.) for 4,518 yards and 36 TDs, with a passer rating of 96.6. Among League leaders Week 16, Stafford is second in completions (385), fifth in yards (4,518), tied for third in touchdowns (36), fifth in completion percentage (63.7) and sixth in passer rating (96.6).
He is the second youngest quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000 yards and 30 touchdown passes in a season. He is second only to QB Dan Marino in 1984. Stafford did so at the age of 23 years, 23 months and 10 days, and Marino accomplished it at 23 years, 2 months and 17 days.
Stafford’s 4,518 passing yards on the season is the most in franchise history for a single-season breaking the record set by QB Scott Mitchell (4,338) in 1995.
One of only three quarterbacks 23 years or younger (Dan Marino, 5084 in 1984; Drew Bledsoe, 4,555 in 1994) in NFL history to throw for 4,500 yards in a season.
Stafford has 385 completions on the season, which is a new team single-season record. He set a new park by surpassing QB Jon Kitna’s 372 completions in 2006.
He has 604 attempts in 2011, breaking Kitna’s team record (596 in 2006) for attempts in a season. He is the first quarterback in team history to attempt 600 passes in a season.
For the Month of September, Stafford was 79-of-118 (66.9 pct.) for 977 yards and 9 touchdowns. His rating for the month was 110.7. Stafford ranked among the NFL leaders, including 5th in yards (3rd in NFC), tied for 2nd in passing touchdowns (tied for 1st in NFC) and 3rd in passer rating ((2nd in NFC).
His 325.7 passing yards per game was the highest for the month of September in team history.
In the Lions' season opener at Tampa Bay (9/11), registered 305 yards passing (24-of-33, 72.7 pct.) in the Lions win, the most by a Lions quarterback on the road to open the season. It also marked Stafford's second career 300-yard game.
In the first half alone, he threw for 265 yards, the third most by a Lions passer in the first half of a game since 1991, and it's Stafford's second highest first-half total of his career. He threw for 270 yards in the first half vs. Cleveland (11/22/09).
His 305 yards was also the third 300-yard passing game by a Lions quarterback on opening day, and he became only the second player in team history to accomplish this feat. The last time was QB Bobby Layne (364 vs. Pittsburgh, 9/27/53 and 310 vs. Washington, 9/30/51).
In the Lions' season opener at Tampa Bay (9/11), registered 305 yards passing (24-of-33, 72.7 pct.) in the Lions win, the most by a Lions quarterback on the road to open the season. It also marked Stafford's second career 300-yard game.
Set a new single game career-high with a quarterback rating of 118.9. It was the highest passer rating posted by a Lions quarterback on opening day since QB Gary Danielson registered a 119.6 vs. San Francisco (9/2/84). It is also the highest passer rating recorded by a Lions quarterback on the road in an opener dating back to at least 1950.
His 3 touchdown passes against the Bucs, marked his third career game throwing at least three touchdowns.
Finished the home opener vs. Kansas City (9/18) 23-of-39 (58.9 pct) for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns, ending the day with a 106.1 passer rating. His four touchdown passes mark the third career game of having at least 4 touchdown passes.
By recording back-to-back games with a passer rating over 100.0 (118.9 last week at Tampa Bay), he accomplished that feat for the first time for the Lions since QB Jon Kitna in 2007 (100.5 at Philadelphia 9//23 and vs. Chicago 9/30). It is the first time that a Lions quarterback had a passer rating over 100.0 in the first two games of the season since Gary Danielson in 1984 (119.6 vs. San Francisco, 9/24 and 110.2 at Atlanta 9/9).
Stafford found WR Calvin Johnson on 2 touchdown passes in the game, marking the second time in the season's first two games that they have connected for 2 touchdowns. In the last three games that Stafford has started and completed (including last year's win vs. Washington 10/31/10), he has thrown 7 touchdown passes to Johnson.
Helped turn the Lions 20-0 halftime deficit at Minnesota (9/25) into a 26-23 win in overtime by completing 32-of-46 passes (69.6 pct.) for 378 yards and 2 touchdowns. He finished with a quarterback rating of 108.8.
After trailing at halftime 20-0, Stafford completed 22-of-30 passes for 314 yards and 2 touchdowns with a passer rating of 129.0 in the second half and overtime. His 314 yards in the second half and overtime. His 314 yards in the second half and overtime are the most in the League this season after halftime in a single game.
Stafford's 378 yards was his third career game throwing for 300+ yards. He has three career 300-yard games in his first 16 career starts.
With two passing touchdowns, both to WR Calvin Johnson, Stafford become only the second Lions quarterback (Milt Plum, 1962) to throw for 9 touchdowns in the season's first three games.
With 378 yards in the Lions win at Minnesota (9/25), Stafford has now accumulated 977 yards in the season's first three games. He is the 8th Lions quarterback (9 times overall) to register 900 yards in a three-game stretch, and his 977 yards are the third-most all-time in team history in a three-game span. With regards to the first three games of the season, Stafford's 977 are the second-most all-time to begin a season in franchise history.
Through three games, Stafford has registered a 110.7 passer rating. He became the fifth quarterback in team history to accumulate a 100.0 passer rating through the season's first three games.
At Dallas (10/2), engineered his fourth career comeback win. Finished the day 21-of-43 for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the fourth quarter, he was 10-of-16 for 121 yards and completed both scores for a fourth quarter QB rating of 125.3.
Stafford was 19-of-26 for 219 yards and had 2 touchdown passes in the Lions 24-13 win vs. Chicago to push the team’s record to 5-0, their best start since 1956. He connected with WR Calvin Johnson on a 73-yard touchdown pass, the second time in his career he has connected with Johnson on a 70+-yard TD pass.
Connected on 28-of-50 passes for 293 yards and threw for 2 touchdowns vs. San Francisco (10/16). He has thrown 2 touchdown passes in each of the season’s first six games.
He was 21-of-30 for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns at Denver (10/30). His passer rating was 130.8. The 130.8 rating is the highest of his career. He connected on touchdown passes of 56 (Calvin Johnson) and 41 yards (Titus Young).
His 63 passing attempts at Chicago (11/13) set a new franchise record for a single game.
He threw for 329 yards at Chicago (11/13) which was his fourth career 300-yard passing game. That ties Gary Danielson for fourth on the Lions all-time list for career 300-yard passing games.
Stafford connected on 5 touchdown passes vs. Carolina (11/20) which ties a team single-game record (Gary Danielson vs. Min 12/9/78 and Stafford vs. Cle 11/22/09).
Stafford became the first player in team history to throw 5 touchdowns twice during his career.
He also became the first player in team history to pass for 4 touchdowns in game four times in his career. He broke the previous mark set by Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne who had 3 career games with 4 touchdown passes.
By passing for 335 yards vs. Carolina (11/20), he now has 5 career 300-yard games tying Layne for the third-most in team history.
Stafford’s 77.8 completion percentage was the highest single-game tally for a Lions quarterback with at least 35 pass attempts.
Through the first 10 games, Stafford has thrown for 2,843 yards. It is the highest total by a Lions quarterback through 10 games in team history. The previous high was 2,673 by QB Jon Kitna in 2007.
He also has 25 touchdown passes on the year. He is tied with Layne (25, 1951) for the most touchdown passes through 10 games in team history.
It is the fifth time in Stafford’s career that he has led the Lions to victory after trailing or being tied in the fourth quarter.
In Stafford’s two career games with 5 touchdown passes, he found 5 different receivers for scores in both games.
He threw for 276 yards vs. Green Bay (11/24), moving his season total to 3,119. He has the most passing yards by any Lions quarterback through the season’s first 11 games in team history (previous best was QB Jon Kitna 2,897 in 2007). His is the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for 3,000 yards in the season’s first 11 games.
He also threw a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson in the fourth quarter giving him 26 touchdowns on the season. He tied Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne (26, 1951) for the second-highest single-season tally in team history. QB Scott Mitchell holds the team record with 32 in 1995.
Stafford’s 26 touchdown passes through 11 games ties Layne (26, 1951) for the most touchdown passes by a Lions quarterback through 11 games in team history.
He also added a 22-yard rush vs. Green Bay – the longest run of his career.
Stafford completed 31-of-44 passes (70.5 pct) for 408 yards and 1 TD with a passer rating of 97.5 at New Orleans (12/4). It was the fourth game this season he has completed over 30 passes and the fifth time he has passed for 300 yards. Additionally, he completed passes to 10 different receivers.
He became the first quarterback in team history to register two 400-yard passing games.
Stafford has now surpassed 300 yards for the sixth time in his career. He passed Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne (5) for third on the Lions all-time list for career 300-yard passing games.
With 31 pass completions vs. the Saints, Stafford passed QB Scott Mitchell (293 in 1997) for fifth on the team’s single-season pass completions list. He now has 307 on the season.
By reaching 300 pass completions in 2011, he become the fourth passer in team history to record 300 completions in a season, and this is the fifth time overall that a quarterback accomplished this feat. He joins QB Jon Kitna (372 in 2006, 355 in 2007), QB Scott Mitchell (346 in 1995) and QB Joey Harrington (309 in 2003) to complete 300 passes in a year.
Stafford’s 9-yard pass to RB Maurice Morris near the end of the third quarter was his 27th on the season. He moved past Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne (26, 1951) for the second-most touchdowns by a Lions quarterback in a single-season.
His 408 yards moved his season total to 3,527 yards. Against the Saints, he passed QB Gary Danielson (3223 in 1980) and QB Scott Mitchell (3,484 in 1997) to move to fourth place on the team’s single-season passing yards list.
He completed 20-of-29 passes (68.9 pct) for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns vs. Minnesota (12/11). He has thrown a touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games. and at least 2 touchdown passes in nine of the Lions 13 games this season.
He now has the most completions (Jon Kitna, 309 in 2006), yards (Scott Mitchell, 3470 in 1995) and touchdown passes (Scott Mitchell, 26 in 1995) through the first 13 games of a season for a Lions quarterback.
He went 29-of-55 (55.8 pct.) for 391 yards and 4 touchdowns at Oakland (12/18). With 4 touchdowns, he broke the Lions single-season touchdown record with 33 this season. He passed QB Scott Mitchell who threw for 32 in 1995.
Stafford led the Lions on a 7-play, 98-yard drive with 2:14 left and no timeouts that resulted in a 6-yard pass to WR Calvin Johnson with :39 seconds to play in the game to capture the lead at 28-27. On the previous fourth quarter drive, Stafford led the Lions on a 7-play, 71-yard drive to culminated with a 3-yard pass to rookie WR Titus Young with 4:49 left to play that moved the Lions within six points at 27-21.
He threw for 143 yards on the Lions final two drives that resulted in touchdowns, including 91 on the game-winning drive.
Stafford also converted perhaps the biggest fourth-down conversion of the season with the Lions facing 4th-and-2 at the Oakland 8-yards line with 5:36 left to play and trailing 27-14. He took the snap in shotgun formation and ran a quarterback draw that was originally called a pass play. Stafford ran for the first down when the rest of the offense was playing the pass play called. He gave the team a first down and on the next play Stafford converted the touchdown on the next play.
Stafford went 29-of-36 for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns vs. San Diego (12/24). His 80.6 completion percentage set a new team single-game record for completion percentage by a passer with at least 25 attempts and his 137.6 rating is the highest by a Lions quarterback in a game by a quarterback who registered at least 35 pass attempts.
2010: Team's second-year starting quarterback who was named an offensive team captain.
Started and played the first two quarters of the season opener at Chicago (9/12) before getting hit near the end of the half, forcing him out of the game with a shoulder injury. Finished with 11 of 15 completions for 83 yards.
Inactive vs. Philadelphia (9/19), at Minnesota (9/26), at Green Bay (10/3) and vs. St. Louis (10/10) due to a shoulder injury suffered in season opener.
Listed as third quarterback at the New York Giants (10/17).
Returned as starting quarterback in 37-25 win against Washington (10/31) after missing previous five games due to shoulder injury. Threw four touchdown passes, including game-winning touchdown to Calvin Johnson with 3:12 to take 28-25 lead. Threw for 212 yards on 25 completions, and finished with a 90.2 passer rating. It marked Stafford's second career fourth-quarter come-from-behind win.
His 4 touchdown passes are the second-highest single game tally of his career. He joins QB Bobby Layne (4), QB Gary Danielson (2), QB Eric Hipple (2) and QB Scott Mitchell (2) as the only passers in team history with at least two games of 4 touchdown passes, and Stafford is the first player in team history to do it twice in his first two years with the club.
Stafford became the first Lions' quarterback to throw four touchdowns in a game which all four touchdowns gave the Lions the lead.
In the second half vs. the Redskins, Stafford was 18-of-27 (66.7 pct) for 140 yards and threw for 3 touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 116.3, the highest tally in a second half of a game during his career.
Completed 20-of-36 passes for 240 yards and threw for two touchdowns vs. the New York Jets, and he finished with a passer rating of 94.7. With a 90.2 passer rating vs. Washington (10/31), it marked the first time in his two-year career he has registered passer ratings of 90.0 in back-to-back games. Also ran for third career rushing touchdown. Left game in fourth quarter due to shoulder injury.
Inactive (right shoulder) at Buffalo (11/14), at Dallas (11/21), against New England (11/25), against Chicago (12/50, against Green Bay (12/12) and at Tampa Bay (12/19).
Placed on Reserve/Injured December 24, 2010 due to right shoulder injury.
2009: Completed 201-of-377 passes (53.3) for 2,267 yards during his rookie campaign. His 13 touchdown passes is a Lions' rookie passing record. Was one of four rookie starters (TE Brandon Pettigrew, S Louis Delmas and DT Sammie Hill) in season opener. It was the first time Detroit has had four rookie starters on opening day since 1978 when DB Luther Bradley, DE Al Baker, T William Fifer and G Homer Elias made their starting debut). First Lions rookie quarterback to start the season since QB Greg Landry in 1968. Was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 11) and voted Pepsi Rookie of the Week (Week 11) for his efforts in Lions 38-37 win vs. Cleveland (11/22).
Made his first career start in the season opener at New Orleans (9/13). Completed 16-of-37 passes for 205 yards and ran in for a 1-yard touchdown.
Stafford (21 years, 218 days old) was the youngest quarterback to start a season opener since QB Drew Bledsoe (21 years, 203 days old) started for the New England Patriots in the 1993 season opener.
Connected on his first career passing touchdown on a 8-yard pass to WR Calvin Johnson vs. Minnesota (9/20). Completed 18-of-30 passes for 152 yards.
Completed 21-of-36 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown for a passer rating of 87.8 vs. Washington (9/27). Engineered three scoring drives (two TDs and one FG).
Connected on 24-of-36 passes for 296 yards, a touchdown and an interception for a quarterback passer rating of 89.6 at Chicago (10/4).
Stafford's 221 passing yards in the first half at Chicago (10/4) were the most by a Lions passer since QB Jon Kinta garnered 314 yards in the first half at Philadelphia (9/23/07). Since 1995, Stafford's 221 passing yards in the first half was the fourth highest tally by a Lions passer in the past 15 seasons.
Inactive-third quarterback vs. Pittsburgh (10/11) and at Green Bay (10/18) due to knee injury.
Returned to the starting line-up vs. St. Louis (11/1) and completed 14 of 33 passes for 168 yards. Also scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown for his second rushing score of the year. Stafford has either thrown or run for a touchdown in all five games he has started this year.
Connected on 22 of 42 passing attempts for 203 yards and two touchdowns at Seattle (11/8). Set career high with two touchdown passes, including a 7-yard pass to TE Brandon Pettigrew and a 29-yard pass to WR Bryant Johnson.
Reached career highs for both attempts (51) and completions (29) for 224 yards and no interceptions at Minnesota (11/15) and passed for his sixth career touchdown on an 8-yard strike to TE Will Heller.
Had a record-setting game vs. Cleveland (11/22) in which he completed 26 of 43 passes for a career-high and NFL Rookie Record (previous was Arizona QB Matt Lienart, 405 yards 11/26/06) 422 yards and tied the NFL Rookie Record with five passing touchdowns (tied with Chicago QB Ray Buivid 12/5/37).
His 422 yards are the third-highest Lions' single-game total and are the most yards thrown for by a Lions' quarterback in a win.
Stafford became just the second rookie in NFL history to throw for five touchdowns in a game and shattered the Lions' previous rookie-high of two. His five touchdowns were thrown to five different receivers.
At 21 years, 288 days old, Stafford was the youngest player in NFL history to pass for five touchdowns in a game. Buivid accomplished the feat at 22 years, 112 days old.
The five touchdowns also tied for the most by a Lions quarterback in team history (Gary Danielson vs. Minnesota 12/9/78).
Stafford completed a 75-yard touchdown to Calvin Johnson to set a career-long play. After injuring his shoulder at the end of the game, Stafford returned for the game's final play, connecting on a 1-yard touchdown strike to fellow rookie TE Brandon Pettigrew on an untimed down (following a defensive pass interference penalty) for the game-winning score.
Against the Browns, he led the Lions to a 38-37 win after overcoming three different deficits (21, 3 and 6 points). It was his first career fourth quarter comeback win.
Stafford's 112.7 passer rating against the Browns was the fourth highest single-game passer rating (highest by rookie quarterback) with over 40 pass attempts since 1970.
Completed 20 of 43 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown vs. Green Bay (11/26).
His 54-yard touchdown pass to WR Calvin Johnson at Cincinnati (12/6) was his 13th on the season, setting the Lions' rookie passing record for TDs (Joey Harington, 12 in 2002).
With the touchdown pass to Johnson against the Bengals, Stafford has thrown or rushed for a touchdown in each of his 10 starts this season. He has also registered touchdown passes in each of the past five games.
Media career
Stafford has a weekly segment on Mondays on The Mitch Albom Show with Mitch Albom on Detroit radio station WJR.
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