Culpepper never threw the ball downfield and didnt show anything that wowed anyone…..Stafford showed he has a cannon and its accurate……2 of his 4 picks were recievers falling and the 3rd was at the end of a half hail mary style……Stafford showed me his more then able to play QB in the NFL….Just as Matt Ryan showed last year in Atlanta……they were both ready to start from day one as rooks.

I think Staffs connection with Cj was won him the job, I mean that bills game was sweet, hitting him for 37 and 40 and almost a 37 yrd TD (was called back) I mean CJ is our best player and Cpep was not even close to utilizing his potential (he completed 1 pass for 20+) if he is afraid to get vertical how soon will it take before it affects our ground game?

dont get me worng I like cpep and wouldnt have minded if he started but I am simply attempting to justify the decision

Cp looked like crap to me. I never wanted that scrub on the team in the first place and was infuriated when he was signed. Look at the preseason. How many times did Cp throw downfield? Once if I recall correctly and he overthrew it. His percentage of completions is higher because he ONLY dumped the ball off. I’m sorry but I rather have a QB in that isn’t afraid to stretch the field. What good is Megatron if you never throw one to him because you are dumping off 4yd passes to the RB? The only way I wanted CP on the field initially was so Staff doesnt get punished and hurt due to Sackus aside from that reason alone I wanted Staff to start.

but what if he played bad too? double edge sword im afraid, personally I think with his play in the preseason and the very good statement he made prolly did more for him than anything in reg season would have done for his cause (potentially, again if he did well or didnt do well)

for reading and commenting when I post. I’m always interested to see what you have to say on my take, and it nearly always makes me think a little more.

Culpepper’s trade value would have gone up or down based on his game performance if he were named the starter for a few weeks, as others have noted.

That being said, that’s a moot point. If Culpepper were named the starter, and he was performing poorly, his stock would drop, and fast. If he performed well, and the Lions decided to ship him out, good old Lion Nation would draw up the “Fire Mayhew” signs. There would have been no way to win the “boost trade value” game in that sense.

As Culpepper is now, he’s an enigma. Here’s what 31 NFL teams know about Culpepper right now: He was once one of the league’s greats, and certainly has the potential to be again. His decline was due in large part to injury, and he retired last year and let himself get way out of shape. After the Lions picked him up, he finished out the season and immediately went back to work. He entered the offseason in the worst shape of his life entered training camp in the best. He seems more mobile and more comfortable now than he has been in years, and has a preseason completion percentage close to 70, but nobody knows how that will translate in the regular season.

I’m willing to bet somebody out there is curious (or desperate) enough to find out.

I should have said that…but I like how stafford will take chances down the field even if there is coverage…I just like that.

It does not make any racial slur or anything……it just makes a point really.

We’re days away from the season, I think we can stay off-topic. And if you aren’t sure, best bet is to not post it.

……I value most of your guys opinions as you guys arent just on here making pts ever once in a while like some…..Your on here like most of us and you know football like myself.

cuz he knows linehans style…perhaps that is what frustrated linehan & schwartz and lead to staff starting (on top of the fact the young gun wins if camp is “tied” approach) he should have had the leg up simply having known linehans system. either way, i still say that staff made more of thie opportunities afforded to him

they don’t follow your criteria of being title contenders though, but they may be in the market for a decent starting QB- the Redskins and the Broncos. We all know Snyder doesn’t have any faith in Jason Campbell, and Orton is just a noodle-armed game manager.
I respectfully disagree with the idea of DC getting shopped right now. He’ll probably leave via FA in the upcoming offseason, but I don’t think the Lions are going to try to unload him during the season

They WILL get a different back up for Brady by Week 2…Might be AJ Feely…might not.

Don’t count them out. I bet they call Detroit and try to low ball us, like a 6th rounder or something like that.

that Culpepper will not leave Detroit until his contract is up at the end of the season. I see him collecting his paycheck and roster bonus, and retiring at the end of the season. The only way I see him leaving this season is if the Lions FO is content in getting a late round pick out of him in trade. I would really like to see them package DC with a middle round pick for a name brand player….a DT, a CB, or even Brandon Marshall (who is every bit worth a 3rd rounder in my humble and honest opinion).

Unless Stafford is able to control the time of possession as effectively as Daunte Culpepper could. I agree that our defense will have to drastically improve if we are going to score fast and not worry about the time of possession. With a rookie QB will come rookie mistakes…..our defense is not good enough to stop opposing teams if we are going to try to win every game in an offensive shootout. Our offense, and our rookie QB, needs to do what it can to control the clock and keep our defense off the field as much as possible. Otherwise I think we will lose a lot of games in the 3rd and 4th quarters because our defense will be tired, and our rookie QB is bound to make mistakes. It would not make a difference who the QB was if both QBs were equally good at controlling the time of possession and managing the clock.

Welcome to POD Americanadians…..cool name. Look man, I don’t know if you have been reading and just not posting (joined March 30, 2009….so I assume that to be the case), but my argument is not that Culpepper should start all year, and my argument is not that Culpepper is a better QB than Stafford (outside of experience and knowledge of the intricacies of the game). My argument is that he should have been named the starter, at least for the first 4-5 weeks, not only to showcase his abilities as an NFL starter to hopefully increase his trade value, but also to see if he could take us somewhere (the what if questions are endless). If we were not 5-0 or 4-1 by week 5, then as long as Daunte had performed respectfully well, we would likely be in a far better position to get something decent out of him in a trade before the week 6 trade deadline. At that point, I would be happy to see Stafford take over. Now that we know this is not going to happen, I have also said that I am behind Stafford 100%. I am just stating my opinions here, in light of the decision that has been made.

It’s not about who would make us a better team to me at this point…..it is about what we can get out of Culpepper. I do not like the idea of paying him 4 million dollars to hold the clipboard for 1 year, only to watch him leave at the end of the season with no return on the investment the organization has made in him. I agree that Stafford has to learn by playing….but 4 or 5 weeks of watching Daunte do it would not hurt him in the long run. You said it yourself, we are not going anywhere this year anyway, so what would it hurt? I say it would have helped the team in the long run more than it would have hurt Matt Stafford’s potential.