Lions Regret? Rams QB Stafford Has One

"You definitely look back and wish you’d done a few things different here or there in some games, that maybe change the outcomes of seasons,'' Stafford said.

The Detroit Lions' reputation is an unfortunate one. But it's also a chicken-or-the-egg one. Is the franchise not good enough for the players? Have the players not been good enough for the franchise?

Star quarterback Matthew Stafford, now with the Los Angeles Rams after a long and largely unsuccessful time as Detroit's "franchise guy,'' understands the question.

“Definitely,'' he said via Peter King’s Football Morning in America. "I sit there and go, ‘Man, I wish I could’ve gotten it done.’ I mean, it would’ve been amazing to have a Super Bowl parade down Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Didn’t happen. Tough pill to swallow as a competitor and somebody who touches the ball on every single offensive play.''

The blockbuster trade that brings Stafford to L.A. does not, in other words, erase the failure in Detroit that is indeed in part the fault of all involved. The Lions have a new GM and a new coach and in Jared Goff, a new QB - and Rams fans probably have mixed feelings about how Goff will work out there.

If it doesn't work? Maybe it'll be part the Lions' fault ... and part Goff's.

Just as with Stafford.

"You definitely look back and wish you’d done a few things different here or there in some games, that maybe change the outcomes of seasons,'' Stafford said. "But I’m focused completely forward now.''

During Stafford’s time in Detroit, the Lions achieved the playoffs just three times. The Rams hope that his record is about to change, as L.A. points toward title contention. 

If that happens? Plenty of credit to go around. And if it does not happen? Stafford seems to understand that in any city and with any of team, there will be plenty of blame to go around as well.

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