Kelly Stafford has taken issue with an unflattering headline in a Detroit newspaper in which her husband, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, was mostly blamed for Sunday’s blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Lions were taken behind the proverbial woodshed by the Colts in a humiliating 41-21 setback at Ford Field. Stafford put up somewhat decent numbers, completing 24-of-42 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. The longtime Lions signal-caller, however, took five back-breaking sacks in the loss.
An article by Carlos Monarrez published by the Detroit Free-Press shortly after the loss featured the headline, “Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford deserves most of the blame for loss to Colts.” Unsurprisingly, the article was as critical of Stafford, as the headline suggests.
Kelly Stafford caught wind of the disparaging characterization of her husband’s role in Sunday’s loss and took to social media to rip the notion that the quarterback alone was responsible for the Lions’ dud of a game.
It merits noting that Stafford himself shouldered some of the blame for the loss in his postgame comments.
“If I play like that, it’s going to be tough for us to win,” Stafford said. “I’m sure that there’s a lot of guys in our locker room looking at themselves in the mirror saying, if I play like that it’s going to be tough for us to win. So if you guys want to put it on somebody, put it on me.”
Kelly Stafford has been her husband’s staunchest defenders over the years, especially when it comes to how she often views criticism of the 12th-year Lions quarterback as extremely unfair.
Stafford and the Lions (3-4) will attempt to get their season back on track Sunday with a divisional showdown with the similarly struggling Minnesota Vikings (2-5).
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