Jim Schwartz sees Matthew Stafford as “dangerous”

[Roary]

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Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had his best season in 2011, when he threw for 5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns while playing for head coach Jim Schwartz. The 31-year-old Stafford has never replicated those numbers from his age-23 season, but Schwartz still thinks highly of him.

Schwartz, who as Eagles defensive coordinator is preparing to face Stafford on Sunday, said Stafford is a tough quarterback to prepare for, even though he doesn’t do the same things in the Lions’ offense now as he did when Schwartz is coaching him.

“They’re playing a little bit different scheme,” Schwartz said, via the Detroit Free PressS. “They have a defensive head coach, they have an offensive coordinator who came from a run-first, Seattle-type scheme, so they have maybe a little bit different flavor, but he’s still a very dangerous guy. He goes to the right spot with the balls. He makes accurate throws and moves the ball around to a lot of different people.”

As a defensive coordinator, Schwartz has faced Stafford twice, and his defenses have done a good job about him. That doesn’t necessarily mean he has his former quarterback’s number, but Stafford will need to wake up feeling dangerous if the Lions are going to upset the Eagles on Sunday.