Is Stafford's career as a starter over???

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Det. has some real nice young players...I think they're going to be around for a while...Stafford, Best, Suh, Petigrew and Johnson to name a few.

The counter example would probably be the Texans.

Not to say that Schaub is the problem there: he's not. But the Texans defense was only briefly a decent defense. And the Texans had a few coaching mishaps and probably missed a small window to make the postseason between 2008 and 2009. Right now, the AFC is likely too strong and their defense too weak to win with that core.

They can theoretically keep Schaub and Johnson and Daniels and Foster around, and build around Mario Williams and Amobi Okoye, but the window where they can win with an elite passing game is probably past. That's what I think may happen to Detroit if they try to wait out Stafford. The good young players are going to be there, but they are playing well as a team for the first time in a decade. They've got to get through that window right now.

When you are the league's most improved team, as the Lions may be, the last thing you want to do is wait for the rest of the league to catch up to make a real push at the postseason.