Detroit Lions – Matthew Stafford’s accuracy outdone by velocity

Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) on the sideline against the Buffalo Bills during an NFL football game at Ford Field in Detroit, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws against the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

By Paula Pasche | The Oakland Press

PUBLISHED: September 14, 2016 at 3:16 p.m. | UPDATED: June 17, 2021 at 6:43 a.m.

ALLEN PARK >> Not only has Matthew Stafford been accurate with a 71.1 completion percentage in his last nine games, but the balls he throws have a certain zip to them.

Lions wide receiver Golden Tate said his hands routinely sting long after the game is over.

“There’s been some passes that have hurt my hands for days, weeks, months. What am I going to do about it? Go complain about it, ‘Hey Matt throw that ball a little softer.’ Heck no. You start getting picky you might stop seeing the ball period,” Tate said.

“You deal with it, you make the plays and when he throws … He throws passes through my hands. They’re perfect balls, I misjudge them, they go through my hands, I don’t have a chance to squeeze them and it’s just a drop. You’ve got to go to the next play. They whole team sees it, he sees it, he’s going to get on you, ‘Hey catch the ball’ in the film room’ and my position coach is probably going to have me catch a hundred balls after practice. I’m not going to say, “Hey Matt take a little off that.”

Do Stafford’s throws sting more than balls spit out of the JUGS machine?

“Absolutely,” Tate said.

He can pinpoint the toughest ones to catch.

“The hardest ones are those in-routes when you run in-between 15 and 20 yards up the field and you take a hard left turn, and as soon as you get out of your break the ball is already coming with the defender. Those are hard to catch,” Tate said. “They definitely are not easy. He throws so hard that if he makes a bad throw probably the cornerback can’t even catch it, so that’s good.”

The Lions are 1-0 heading into Sunday’s home game against the Tennessee Titans (0-1). In the past nine games going back to when Jim Bob Cooter took over the offense midway through last season the Lions are 7-2.

In that nine-game stretch, Stafford has thrown 22 touchdowns and just two interceptions. In Sunday’s win at the Colts, Stafford completed 79.5 percent of his passes along with three touchdown passes.

As long as Stafford keeps zipping those throws and the receivers catch them, those numbers could climb and the fans around the NFL might start to see what Tate sees in Stafford.

“I definitely think he is an elite quarterback. I think once we collectively start winning games you have to give us respect,” Tate said. “At the end of the day you have to win games. Hopefully soon.

“I think the people who understand football understand he’s an elite quarterback. People who just look at the wins and losses sometimes don’t completely understand. I’ll be the first to say he’s a top five quarterback in my mind,” Tate said.

He is not alone.

“It’s kind of been popular to kind of talk about what he can’t do and all that kind of stuff and I told you all along, this guy’s a good quarterback,” coach Jim Caldwell said on Wednesday.

While he has the utmost respect for Stafford, he has seen throws with more speed.

Caldwell told the story of how as a college coach, he visited Broncos training camp. Standing on the sideline with his back to the field, he heard a noise.

“I could actually literally hear the ball. I thought it was a bird initially, the ball was just, ‘choo-choo-choo-choo-choo’ rotating and I was looking this direction and I turned around and it was (John) Elway throwing the ball. You could hear the ball cutting through the wind,” Caldwell said. “I mean he could throw a ball. I think those kinds of things, we’ve been around it long enough, guys have strong arms that can throw it.

“Matthew’s one of those guys that can throw it. He can really make all the throws, he’s not just a power thrower, he can throw touch passes, which you’ve seen. I mean it’s not a real surprise what he can do, I don’t think he’s surprising anybody in that regard,” Caldwell said.

He couldn’t describe the sound that Stafford’ ball makes.

“Not quite like Elway’s. Elway’s was pretty unique,” Caldwell said.

Thanks to Stafford, Tate has kissed away all dreams of a post-NFL career as a hand model.

“Look at these pinkies,” he said as he holds out his misshapen fingers.

“Those days are done, maybe I’ll try foot. I would say underwear but my fiance wouldn’t let me,” Tate said.