Detroit Lions vs atLanta faLcons JOHNSON'S Mega-PURSUIT 2012 ...

He and Hall of fame QB Bobby layne are the only quarterbacks in
team history to engineer 20+-point comebacks in team history (regular
season). layne engineered the largest comeback ever by bringing
the lions back from 24 points down vs. Baltimore (10/20/57). in the
postseason, the lions also came back from a 20-point deficit at san
francisco December 22, 1957, quarterbacked by Tobin rote, to claim a
31-27 win after training 27-7 in the third quarter. The playoff game is
known in lions history as the “Comeback at Kezar.”
¾ since the beginning of the 2010 season, he has started in 33 games and
has tossed 65 touchdown passes (31 interceptions), and 24 of those
touchdowns have gone to Wr Calvin Johnson.
¾ Became the second player in Nfl history (fran Tarkenton) to record
four games of 4+ TD passes in first 16 career games.
¾ first quarterback in Nfl history with three games with at least 5
touchdown passes in his first 29 career games.
¾ lions are 9-7 in games stafford throws for 300 yards and 12-11 when
he throws for over 250 yards.
¾ Team record 16 career 300-yard games, breaking record held by scott
Mitchell (8, 1994-98). of stafford’s 16 career 300-yard games, 8 occurred
in 2011. franchise best 3 career 400-yards games, including 2 in 2011.
first player ever to throw for over 500 yards in a game in lions history.
¾ Team is 8-1 when stafford throws 3 touchdowns in a game. His 9 games
are tied for the second-most 3+touchdown pass games in team history.
¾ lions are 10-2 when stafford records a passer rating over 100.0.
¾ Nine career game-winning drives with team trailing or tied in fourth
quarter or oT.
¾ Has thrown for a TD or rushed for a TD in 40 of his 43 career starts.
¾ rookie campaign was highlighted by his 13 touchdowns passes (lions
rookie passing record) and his gritty performance against Cleveland
when he threw for an Nfl record 422 yards and tied a league singlegame
rookie record with five touchdown passes.
¾ selected by the lions with the first overall pick in the 2009 Nfl Draft
and was named the team’s starting quarterback to start the regular
season. He was the youngest player to start the regular season at
quarterback since drew Bledsoe in 1993.
2012: Voted team captain for the third-straight year (2010-12). Currently
leads the Nfl in passing yards with 3,742.
¾ registered his seventh career fourth quarter game-winning drive
when trailing or tied as he led the lions back to a 27-23 victory over
the rams on opening day (9/9). Trailing 23-20 with 1:55 left to play
and with only one time out, stafford and the lions went on a 9-play,
80-yard drive that lasted 1:45.
¾ Threw for 355 yards in the win against the rams (9/9), the second
highest tally in lions history on opening day (QB Bobby layne, 364 vs.
Pit september 27, 1953). also joins layne as the only passers in team
history with two 300-yard games on opening day.
¾ With his one touchdown pass against the rams, he moved past QB
Joey Harrington (60, 2002-2005) for fifth place on the team’s all-time
passing touchdowns list.
¾ Threw for 230 yards and a touchdown at san francisco (9/16), giving
him 1,869 yards over his past five games. His 1,969 yards over the past
five games were the second-highest total in franchise history over
a five-game span. He now holds eight of the nine highest five-game
passing outputs in team history.
¾ Completed 33-of-42 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown in Week
3 at Tennessee (9/23). Helped lead the lions to achieving 583 yards
of total offense. Detroit’s 583 yards were the second-highest single
game tally in team history.
¾ left the game at Tennessee late in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.
¾ Completed 30-of-51 passes for 319 yards vs. Minnesota (9/30) in Week 4.
also recorded his-fourth career rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter
on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. rebounded in the fourth quarter to help
lift the lions to a 26-23 overtime win at Philadelphia. in the fourth
quarter and overtime, stafford was 15-of-24 (62.5 pct) for 220 yards and
threw 1 touchdown as he complied 106.3 rating in the final quarter and
overtime. Trailing as much as 10 points in the fourth, stafford guided
the lions to a game-tying field goal with 0:03 left and helped put them
in position for a 45-yard game-winning field goal.
¾ also rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia
to narrow the lions deficit to 3 points with 10:30 remaining to play.
it was his fifth career rushing touchdown and second of the season
¾ Completed 28-of-46 passes for 261 yards and one touchdown pass to
rookie Wr ryan Broyles in the lions’ 13-7 loss at Chicago in Week 7
(10/22). also ran the ball three times for 23 yards.
¾ Connected with Wr Titus young on a 1-yard touchdown pass on 3rdand-1
with 20 seconds left to play that resulted in the game-winning
touchdown pass against seattle. it gave the lions a 28-24 victory
over the seahawks in Week 8 (10/28). The pass was stafford’s fourth
career game-winning touchdown pass, and second this season, in the
game’s final minute.
¾ He is the only quarterback in the Nfl since the 1970 merger to throw
four-game winning touchdown passes with less than one minute to play
in his first 36 career starts (courtesy elias sports Bureau).
¾ stafford holds the franchise record with four game-winning touchdown
passes in the final minute of the game. His game-winning TD pass vs.
st. louis (9/9) earlier this year broke Hall of fame QB Bobby layne’s
previous team record of two.
¾ overall, stafford now has nine career fourth-quarter or overtime gamewinning
drives (36 career starts), including three this season. since the
beginning of 2011, he has led the team to comeback wins seven times
in the fourth quarter or overtime.
¾ on a 28-yard completion to Te Tony scheffler in the first quarter at
Jacksonville (11/4), stafford 10,000 yards for his career. He became
PLayer ProfiLes
Detroitlions.com
Media.Detroitlions.com
the second fastest player in Nfl history to reach 10,000 career yards,
doing so in 37 career games. only QB Kurt Warner took fewer games
(36) to reach 10,000 career passing yards.
¾ With 285 passing yards vs. the Jaguars, stafford has now tallied 10,223
yards in his first 37 career games. He completed 22-of-33 passes in the
win over the Jaguars.
¾ Went 28-of-42 for 329 yards and three touchdowns in Week 10 at
Minnesota (11/11) and recorded his 14th- career 300-yard game in 38
career games. stafford holds the record for most 300-yard games in
franchise history and has also registered 300 yards in five of the nine
games this season.
¾ Threw for 266 yards vs. Green Bay (11/18) and increased his career
total to 10,828. stafford moved into fifth place on the lions all-time
career passing list, surpassing QB eric Hipple (10,711). stafford now
trails QB Gary Danielson (11,885) for fourth place on the lions all-time
career passing list.
¾ Was 31-of-61 for 441 yards and threw 2 touchdown passes in Week
12 on Thanksgiving Day vs. Houston. (11/22). His performance marked
the fourth time he has thrown for 400 yards in his career, as well as his
15th career 300-yard game and sixth this season.
¾ registered 246 passing yards in the first half against Houston, which
was his fourth-highest tally in the first half of his career. He has now
thrown for 200 yards in the first half eight times during his career.
With 313 passing yards vs. indianapolis in Week 13 (12/2), Matthew
stafford increased his season total to 3,742 and reached 3,500 yards
in the first 12 games of the season for the second consecutive year.
Throwing for 3,500 yards in the first 12 games of a season is a franchise
record and stafford is the only player in team history to accomplish this
feat.
¾ With 313 yards, stafford (3,742) has thrown for the most yards through
the first 12 games of any season in team history. He broke his own record
of 3,527 yards set last year.
¾ By reaching 3,500 yards, stafford became the second quarterback in
team history to throw for 3,500 yards in a season twice (Jon Kitna,
2006-07).
¾ stafford’s 3,742 yards passed QB scott Mitchell (3,484 in 1997) for the
fifth-highest single-season tally in team history.
¾ Completed 27-of-45 passes for 264 yards and had one touchdown
pass and one rushing touchdown at Green Bay in Week 14 (12/9). His
four-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was his fourth rushing
touchdown of the season, the most by a lions quarterback since QB
scott Mitchell scored four in 1996.
2011: Team’s third-year starting quarterback who was named an offensive
team captain for the second consecutive year. Had one of most remarkable
passing seasons by a quarterback 23 years or younger in the Nfl.
Completed 421-of-663 passes (63.5 pct) for 5,038 yards and 41 TDs, with
a passer rating of 97.2.
¾ among 2011 Nfl leaders, stafford was second in completions (421),
third in passing yards (5,038), third in touchdown passes (41), fifth in
passer rating (97.2), fifth in completion percentage (63.5) and first in
attempts (663).
¾ set all-time single season team records in attempts (663), completions
(421), yards (5,038) and touchdowns (41). among qualifiers (minimum
224 attempts), stafford set new team marks for completion percentage
(63.5) and passer rating (97.2).
¾ fourth quarterback in league history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season
(QB Drew Brees 5,069 in 2008 and 5,476 in 2011), Tom Brady (5,235 in
2011) and Dan Marino (5,084). stafford’s 5,038 passing yards ranks fifth
all-time in Nfl history. only stafford (3rd season) and Marino (second
season) accomplished this feat with 3 or less years of experience.
¾ Brees (2011), Marino and stafford are the only quarterbacks in Nfl
history with 5,000+ passing yards and 40+ touchdowns.
¾ 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.
¾ 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. only Marino and stafford reached 5,000 yards.
¾ in Nfl single-season history, stafford’s 2011 season totals were third in
attempts (663), fifth in completions (421), tied for seventh in touchdowns
(41). among passers with 600 attempts, his passer rating (97.2) in the
third highest, and among passers with 575 ranks sixth.
¾ seven games in 2011 with 3+ touchdowns, which was a new franchise
record. He passed QB Bobby layne (6, 1951) for the team record.
¾ Had a record setting performance in Detroit’s postseason loss at New
orleans (1/7), setting a new franchise playoff mark for passing yards
(380), while tying for the second-most touchdown passes (3) and having
the second most pass attempts (43) and completions (28).
¾ stafford’s 1,919 passing yards are the most ever by a player in Nfl
history in games played in December/January (regular season). His
15 touchdowns are the fourth-highest and completions (145) are the
third-most in the final month of the season.
¾ With 378 yards in the lions win at Minnesota (9/25), stafford accumulated
977 yards in the season’s first three games. He became
the 8th lions quarterback (9 times overall) to register 900 yards in a
three-game stretch, and his 977 yards marked 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 were the second-most all-time to
begin a season in franchise history.
¾ stafford connected on 5 touchdown passes vs. Carolina (11/20) which
tied 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