Deadline Detroit | Lapointe: Sunday Reminds Us How Matt Stafford’s Talents Were Wasted in Detroit

Matt Stafford and Ndamukong Suh

The game is called ‘Soccer’, so Matt Stafford raised his cleated left foot near Ndamukong Suh’s, uh, private soccer balls.

“See how he kicks me?” Suh ​​yelled at the referee.

No, officers have not seen Los Angeles Rams quarterback Stafford threaten the groin of Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Suh.

However, they did see Suh towering over Stafford and glaring at him, then pointing her finger at Stafford’s face to swear, “I’ll fuck you” (according to lip readers on Twitter).

This personal clash had heightened the focus for Detroit football fans. Both men are former Lions first-round picks and Detroit team leaders in a different decade. Both veterans should know better than to lose their composure at a bad moment.

Stafford, now in his 13thNFL season, remains one of Detroit’s most popular athletes even in his freshman year in Los Angeles. Suh, in his 12th season and with his fourth team, has cooled his acts in recent years but still carries a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the game. In the past he has stomped and choked his enemies.

Sports officials usually punish retaliation, not provocation. And they sometimes take reputation into account. So it was Suh — not Stafford — who received the 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty at a pivotal moment in the Rams’ 30-27 win Sunday in Tampa that removed Stafford a win from the Super Bowl.

Review of the video shows Suh charging in unblocked, forcing Stafford to rush and throw an incomplete pass late in the first quarter, with the Rams leading 3-0.

Suh then fell over the quarterback, who fell on his back with his legs in the air in what he called a “delivery sack.” At that moment, the two men’s feet seemed to get tangled as Suh landed upside down as well.

“It wasn’t a big deal”

When Suh threatened him, Stafford raised his right palm in a gesture that seemed to say to Suh, “Dude, what’s your problem?”

Ndamukong Suh (NFL Photo)

“He landed on me,” Stafford said after the game, “and I was just trying to get him off me as soon as possible. And then he spoke. And I haven’t thought about it too much to be honest. I moved on to the next piece. It wasn’t a big deal.”

Other than that it was a big deal and an omen of things to come. The penalty against Suh gave the Rams another first down.

Three games later, Stafford threw his first of two touchdown passes to help the Rams win the National Conference championship against San Francisco next Sunday. If they win, the Super Bowl happens to be played at the Rams’ home stadium.

Stafford also scored with a quarterback sneak. He completed 28 of 38 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns. He threw no interceptions. In a magnificent display case, he showed how his talents have been squandered in Detroit for more than a decade.

And he stayed cool under pressure. After the Rams squandered a 27-3 lead by losing four fumbles, Stafford showed poise and presence by directing a passing drive at the last moment to set up Matt Gay’s game-winning 30-yard field goal.

The final completion went over 44 yards to receiver Cooper Kupp, who was supposed to be the bait but broke loose from behind a single cover when the Bucs blitzed. After driving his team to the line of scrimmage, Stafford goaded the ball to stop the clock.

“Steal someone’s soul”

As the ball bounced back towards him, he caught it and ran off the field and goaded it again, an act that could be punished. He went to the bench, flexed his arms and chest and happily called out to his teammates.

Matt Stafford (LA Rams photo by Kam Nedd)

“I’m glad they didn’t tag me because I spiked it there,” Stafford said. “All the guys on the sidelines were like, ‘Man, you’ve been in a dark place,’ and I said, ‘Sometimes you gotta go to those places, you know?'”

The Staffords Rams defeated Tampa quarterback Tom Brady, 44, who may have played his last game for the defending champion. Brady suffered a bloody lip and gave officers plenty of lips about it.

After Tampa’s comeback, Stafford said the Rams’ win was like “stealing someone’s soul.”

“They can reach in there and take it away from them,” Stafford said. “It’s so much fun.”

But Stafford could have lost the game on the first game of the winning streak when he tried to run with the ball and nearly fumbled it. He lost a meter. Had he fumbled it would have been the Rams’ fifth fumble turnover and would have set up a Tampa win.

“I thought I’d direct it,” Stafford said. “That was a bad idea.” As he spoke, he stroked his beard and tried to keep a smile from his face.

Suh has done many good things for Tampa. His strip tackle created a fumble that set up Tampa’s touchdown. On Stafford’s final passing play, he reached the quarterback and knocked him out with another delivery sack.

But that was too little, too late. There were no kicks or words after that. Racing down the field, Stafford rallied his team for the final spike and field goal and on to football’s Final Four.