Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is getting sacked a lot more than he’s used to. But he’s OK with that.
Stafford has been sacked 11 times this season, putting him on pace for a career-high 44 this year. And it’s even worse than the numbers look, because Stafford isn’t dropping back to pass as much as he has the last couple years. This year Stafford has been sacked on 6.9 percent of his dropbacks. Last year he was sacked on 3.5 percent of his dropbacks. And those numbers don’t include the times Stafford has ended up running when he wanted to pass; Stafford is on pace for a career-high 68 rushing attempts in part because he’s been forced to run at times.
Despite all that, Stafford says things are fine with his offensive line. Stafford says there are a combination of factors that are leading to his sacks, and it’s not just a matter of opposing fronts beating the Lions’ offensive line.
“All those sacks are for a different reason,” Stafford said. “It’s not any one thing.”
There is one big problem on the Lions’ line, however: Detroit has been down to its third-string right tackle since starter LaAdrian Waddle and backup Corey Hilliard both suffered injuries in Week One. Garrett Reynolds has struggled filling in, particularly last week against the Jets, when Stafford was sacked four times. But Stafford said sacks aren’t everything, and he actually thought his line was doing a good job of protecting him -- other than the four times he got sacked.
“Honestly, last week, however many times I got sacked, I wasn’t getting hit the rest of the game.”
Waddle will be back on Sunday against the Bills, which should give Stafford more confidence in his line. Not that he’s lacking any confidence in his line now.
