During the Los Angeles Rams’ wild-card game against the Detroit Lions in January, Matthew Stafford was heavily booed at Ford Field.
Taylor Decker, Stafford’s former blindside protector, expects the same reception when his former colleague returns to town for the second time on Sunday night.
“Knowing our fans, I’m expecting hostile territory,” Decker said Monday. “And I know Staff will take it in stride as a competitor; I don’t believe it will affect him at all, but that’s just the nature of business. “They want to cheer on their team.”
The Lions host the Rams in their season opener, a playoff rematch of a game they won 24-23. Lions supporters mocked Stafford, the franchise’s all-time leading passer who demanded to be traded after the 2020 season, during pregame warmups.
They chanted “JA-RED GOFF” throughout the game. The Lions sold Stafford to the Rams in January 2021 for Goff and three draft picks in a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Stafford led the Rams to the Super Bowl in his first season in Los Angeles, and the deal allowed the Lions to create one of the strongest teams in the NFL.
Stafford, who spent the first 12 years of his career in Detroit and threw for 45,109 yards as a Lion, described last year’s game at Ford Field as one of the best he’d ever played in, despite the heckles.
According to the Lions, Ford Field recorded a decibel measurement of 133.6 during the Rams game and established a stadium noise record (134.3) the next week in a divisional playoff triumph over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I’m fully expecting our fans to try and break that sound record again and you know it’s going to be rocking and they’re going to be partying all day,” Decker told the audience.
“It’s going to be enjoyable, and they deserve it because they’ve been supporting us or this team for the past 30, 40 years. I’ve been getting support from these people for the past nine years, and they deserve it.
They deserve to have fun, and they do an excellent job supporting us. A home field advantage of that magnitude cannot be underestimated. “It’s just incredible.”
Decker believes that booing the opposition quarterback, regardless of his history with the team, contributes to this advantage.
“Anybody who comes in here’s the enemy,” he claimed. “So we will see. I could be incorrect, but I believe it will be hostile territory.
