Matthew Stafford Pays Lions Fans Huge Compliment From Playoff Loss in Detroit

The Rams quarterback returned to Detroit for the first time since 2020 when he was traded.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford during warmups before the NFC wild-card game at Ford Field on Sunday, Jan, 14, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Matthew Stafford made his long-awaited return to Detroit during the wild-card round of the playoffs last season when his Los Angeles Rams faced his former team, the Detroit Lions.

The Lions won 24–23 to advance to the divisional round. While it was an upset for Stafford, he reflects on that game with mostly fond memories. He admitted this week that the crowd in Detroit made the game more exciting, even though they were mostly cheering against him.

“That was honestly one of the best atmospheres I ever played a football game in,” Stafford said on Pardon My Take. “Sean [McVay] and I talk about it all the time; it was incredibly loud. We came out for warm-ups and there was not an empty seat. And I mean, it was go time from the second we first stepped out of the tunnel, so it was a lot of fun.”

Stafford was traded to the Rams after the 2020 season in a swap for quarterback Jared Goff. Whenever the Lions and Rams play each other, it's a homecoming for one of the two quarterbacks.

Stafford knew before he even walked into Ford Field that the audience was going to be electric as it was the first home playoff game for the Lions in 30 years. Stafford took the Lions to the playoffs three times during his tenure from 2009–20, but he never got to play a postseason game at home.

“I know what kind of fans they are, and honestly, I totally understand it,” Stafford said. “I get it. They’re gonna want to do everything they can to make my life as uncomfortable as possible. They hadn’t had a playoff game there in 30 years, so they’re gonna get jazzed up for whatever, and the fact that it was me and our team, I’m sure it was even more.”

Stafford will have a chance to redeem himself in Detroit during Week 1 when the Rams travel there to face the Lions.