I like the work Jim Bob Cooter did in Detroit. He’s the offensive coordinator, recall, that in addition to having the coolest coaching name in the league also did really great work after the Lions promoted him last year. They were 1-7 and coming off a 45-10 beatdown in London when they decided to fire Joe Lombardi.
Cooter simplified the offense, getting much better results out of Matthew Stafford. Remarkably better results, in fact.
In the first half of the season, Stafford threw only 2 more touchdowns than interceptions, with a passer rating of 84.1.
| PASSING RATING IN FIRST EIGHT GAMES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Rating |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 69% | 2,709 | 22 | 2 | 113.5 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 67% | 2,226 | 18 | 4 | 111.0 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 65% | 2,386 | 20 | 6 | 110.2 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 65% | 1,937 | 19 | 3 | 108.2 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 64% | 2,094 | 19 | 4 | 104.3 |
| Philip Rivers, S.D. | 70% | 2,753 | 18 | 7 | 102.1 |
| Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 66% | 1,610 | 13 | 5 | 101.5 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 69% | 2,376 | 15 | 6 | 100.8 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 66% | 2,126 | 17 | 4 | 99.9 |
| Josh McCown, Clev. | 65% | 1,897 | 11 | 4 | 95.2 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 69% | 1,878 | 9 | 6 | 95.0 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 67% | 2,399 | 11 | 7 | 92.3 |
| Alex Smith, K.C. | 63% | 1,969 | 9 | 3 | 92.1 |
| Jay Cutler, Chi. | 63% | 1,787 | 10 | 5 | 89.6 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 62% | 1,790 | 13 | 7 | 89.3 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 64% | 2,237 | 13 | 9 | 88.7 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 65% | 2,083 | 13 | 11 | 84.1 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 58% | 1,895 | 10 | 7 | 84.0 |
| Teddy Bridgewater, Minn. | 64% | 1,670 | 6 | 6 | 83.4 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 56% | 2,193 | 17 | 10 | 83.2 |
| Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 67% | 1,954 | 10 | 9 | 82.9 |
| Joe Flacco, Balt. | 63% | 2,176 | 10 | 8 | 82.8 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 54% | 1,820 | 14 | 9 | 81.4 |
| Sam Bradford, Phil. | 63% | 2,061 | 10 | 10 | 79.5 |
| Colin Kaepernick, S.F. | 59% | 1,615 | 6 | 5 | 78.8 |
| Peyton Manning, Den. | 62% | 2,145 | 9 | 13 | 75.6 |
| Andrew Luck, Ind. | 55% | 1,629 | 13 | 12 | 71.6 |
Under Cooter, Stafford became more of a top-5 quarterback, completing 70 percent of his passes, with a 19-2 ratio of touchdowns versus interceptions. Big difference.
And in the second half of the season, Stafford compiled a passer rating of 110.1.
Some of this can be attributed to scheduling. Detroit saw more weak defenses in the second half of the season. On average, those final eight opponents allowed 23 more passing yards per game, with 36 more TD passes (a combined 219 in 128 games, versus only 183 in 128 games for the opponents from Weeks 1-8).
But Detroit seems to be on the right track. Even if Calvin Johnson decides to retire, which seems to be where he’s headed, Stafford is in the mix to be a top-10 passer.
| PASSING RATING IN LAST EIGHT GAMES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Rating |
| Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 74% | 2,212 | 19 | 2 | 126.1 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 67% | 2,146 | 25 | 2 | 124.3 |
| Cam Newton, Car. | 66% | 2,017 | 21 | 1 | 116.7 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 70% | 2,179 | 19 | 2 | 110.1 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 67% | 2,494 | 17 | 5 | 101.3 |
| Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 63% | 2,285 | 15 | 5 | 99.3 |
| Sam Bradford, Phil. | 68% | 1,664 | 9 | 4 | 96.0 |
| Jay Cutler, Chi. | 66% | 1,872 | 11 | 6 | 95.2 |
| Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 67% | 2,764 | 16 | 11 | 94.4 |
| Blake Bortles, Jac. | 61% | 2,235 | 18 | 8 | 93.5 |
| Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 58% | 1,757 | 10 | 2 | 93.3 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 60% | 2,061 | 14 | 5 | 89.7 |
| Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 60% | 1,971 | 11 | 3 | 88.8 |
| Eli Manning, NYG | 59% | 2,310 | 18 | 10 | 87.6 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 58% | 2,115 | 18 | 8 | 86.9 |
| Brock Osweiler, Den. | 62% | 1,967 | 10 | 6 | 86.4 |
| Blaine Gabbert, S.F. | 63% | 2,031 | 10 | 7 | 86.2 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 66% | 2,192 | 10 | 9 | 85.6 |
| Philip Rivers, S.D. | 62% | 2,039 | 11 | 6 | 84.6 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 59% | 2,147 | 12 | 8 | 84.4 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 58% | 1,884 | 12 | 5 | 80.5 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 59% | 1,893 | 13 | 9 | 79.2 |
On both of the above charts, by the way, I listed all quarterbacks with at least 1,600 passing yards (200 yards per game during the eight-week period).
—Ian Allan