In the wake of Matthew Stafford's awful game against the Bears, there has been a lot of discussion about what was to blame for his four-interception performance. Stafford and Jim Schwartz have placed most of the blame on the wind, whereas fans seem to think Stafford's fractured right index finger was the cause of his accuracy issues. Others simply think Stafford's gloves were the reason he struggled so much.
On Sunday against the Panthers, Stafford will once again wear gloves. I'm sure those who think they were to blame for his accuracy problems won't like to hear this, but Stafford said on Monday that he needs to wear them to help grip the ball.
"Because I have to wear a brace on the back of my finger and tape all around it, and I can’t feel the ball with tape just touching the ball," he said. "But if I get the gloves on, I get a little extra grip with the rest of my three fingers. So I get that extra grip, and that just helps me control the ball where it’s going."
The good news is that we know for sure the wind will not be an issue on Sunday since the Lions are at home and will be playing indoors. If Stafford struggles again, I think it will be safe to say his finger injury or the gloves or the combination of those two things are to blame for his poor play. The hope, of course, is that he will get things back on track and prove that it really was the wind that wreaked havoc with his throwing in Chicago.