Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford struggled Sunday in his team's second straight loss after back-to-back wins. The Lions, needing a win to pull ahead in the NFC North, lost, 24-21, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to remain tied atop the division with the Chicago Bears.
Matthew Stafford completes lots of passes to Tampa Bay, disappointing fantasy owners
The Lions quarterback had a season-worst passer rating Sunday. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Stafford completed 26 of 46 passes Sunday for 297 yards and three touchdowns, perfectly acceptable numbers for a quarterback. The problem, though, was that Stafford also threw four interceptions, including one that was returned 48 yards for a Tampa Bay touchdown. The four interceptions were the second-worst total of Stafford's career, exceeded only by five picks against the Seattle Seahawks in November of his rookie year. Stafford has only thrown four interceptions two other times, and hadn't exceeded two picks in a game this season.
Fantasy impact: With Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis holding wide receiver Calvin Johnson to his fewest fantasy points since Week 6, Stafford tried to force more passes than he normally does, and it bit him. His yardage and touchdowns still earned Stafford 15 fantasy points, proving that even when he's bad he's fantasy relevant.
If this is as bad as it gets for Stafford -- and, with games against Green Bay and Philadelphia in the next two weeks, it might be -- that’ll be okay.
