Saying Stafford SHOULD win in the playoffs with this roster is a reach, IMO.
We sit here and say how many holes this team has.....in fact......there are countless pages of arguments with LKP about it. Our Oline sucks. LB's are the worst in the NFL. Secondary sucks. DLine is a joke. Ansah has disappeared. Ngata is awful. Ebron is a waste. NO running game. JBC's gameplan sucks. Caldwell is too conservative. Austin doesn't know what he's doing......
Then we turn around and say how Stafford isn't elite because he cant win in the playoffs.
I'm sure I'll be alone in this thought......but I think #9 is the MAIN reason we even won 9 games. Expecting him to overcome all the other shortcomings this team has is asinine.
Maybe I had too much Kool-Aid this morning......I just don't understand the hate.
Oline is solid in pass pro. Sucks in run blocking. Decker, Swanson is good. Glasgow good for a rookie. Warford started slow but actually had a good year. Reiff was average. The run game aspect hurts Stafford. However, the injuries to Abdullah and Riddick are huge and really may be the biggest reason the run game stunk. 3rd string RB or worse a lot of the year with Zenner showing some late flashes.
LBs not worst in the league. Bynes and Whitehead did well in the middle of the season. Levy hurt most of the season and was average on return (from a knee injury that can heal this offseason). They could huge some youth there but it is not the worst in the league.
Ebron had 711 yards in 13 games. He is not a waste. He is a good player but has a drop issue.
Secondary sucks? No. Slay, Lawson and Quin are good players. Diggs played well in 2015 (hurt late in 2016). Wilson did a solid job and Killebrew showed flashes. It's more the lack of pass rush and some Slay/Diggs injury. Plus LB coverage a bigger problem underneath. They need depth. A blanket statement like secondary sucks is just not true.
Ansah is good and can be a difference maker. Was hurt most of year. Hyder did a solid job asked to take on more snaps than he should have. Robinson and Ngata can play the run and Robinson was a rookie. Taylor sucked, Zettel is a 6th round rookie who can't set the edge. Walker, Charles, Thornton didn't do very much. There are some building blocks but add a DE and pass rushing DT will happen. Not a complete rebuild and not a joke considering Ansah, Hyder, Ngata and Robinson are actually good to solid.
Game plans. Unless you are a coach, you don't really no the intricacies of NFL game plans. Austin and JBC did well with what they have.
Stafford lacked the proper support(run game, drops by good weapon, late season defensive breakdowns, no turnovers forced, only 6 drives starting in opponents territory) But that doesn't mean the rest of the team is garbage going forward. There are plenty of good players for Detroit but they need a few more. And the good players have to execute more consistently (drops, run blocking, run D, pass rush)