Matthew Stafford's postgame pettiness proves he had a one-sided love affair with Detroit

Maybe it was too soon, too fresh in his mind as he stood at the lectern in a Carhartt jacket and hoodie, bruised and battered with a damaged hand and a recent visit to the concussion-protocol tent.

But mostly, Matthew Stafford was beaten. He had just absorbed another loss at Ford Field, where he suffered so many losses over 12 seasons. And when he was asked Sunday night, after his long-awaited return, if he was happy for the city of Detroit after the Detroit Lions had beaten his Los Angeles Rams, 24-23, in the first playoff game at Ford Field, Stafford chose to drop a passive-aggressive bomb.

“I’m happy for the players,” he said. “Happy for those guys.”

After 12 years of calling Detroit his home — where his four daughters were born and where he was paid an ungodly sum of money and showered with praise and loyalty from a way-too-patient fanbase — that’s all he could come up with?

JEFF SEIDEL: When Detroit Lions needed him most, Jared Goff came through for historic playoff win

I’m happy for those guys?

Seriously?

How about I’m happy for a football-mad town and the Ford family and everyone else who bought my jersey and supported me for 12 years before I decided to jump ship because a new regime was coming in and wouldn’t feel any loyalty to a quarterback who got three coaches and two general managers fired?

Heck, Stafford could have taken a cue from his head coach, who was far more gracious about the city.

“The fans,” Sean McVay said, “they were booing my ass when I walked out and they were all fired up. And I loved it. It’s what’s great about NFL football and this city is a great football city and so nothing but respect.”

See, Matt? Was that so hard?

Again, to be as fair as possible, maybe it was too fresh and raw for Stafford. It had been a very hard night, even if he expected much of it. When I was in L.A. early in the week, I asked Stafford about the reception he expected and he admitted he would be “the bad guy coming to town.”

The 66,367 fans certainly lived up to his expectations. The booed him lustily when he took the field for pregame warmups. They booed him lustily when he came to midfield the coin toss. They booed him lustily on the Rams’ first possession.

At least Stafford was somewhat honest when I asked him how difficult it was to make his return and get booed by the raucous crowd.

“It was a good playoff atmosphere,” he said. “You know, obviously it was a loud crowd. I thought we did a great job communicating the whole day. It was a good playoff atmosphere.”

But maybe what hurt even more was how the fans cheered his replacement. Soon after Stafford took the field for warmups, Jared Goff came out and was cheered wildly.

When he was shown on the big screen, they cheered “JAR-ED GOFF! JAR-ED GOFF!” thundered through the stadium — and rang in Stafford’s ears. At least Stafford was gracious about the fans’ support of Goff.

MORE FROM CARLOS MONARREZ: Matthew Stafford got what he deserved with every last boo in his return to Ford Field

“You almost hope they would, right?” he said. “I mean the guy’s — he’s their quarterback. He’s playing great. He led them to a win today. I’m happy for him.

“I thought he played excellent today. He’s leading an offense that’s playing at a really good clip right now and they should be proud of him. They should be cheering for him.”

The cheer went up several times during the game. Ah, the game. Yes, we can’t forget that, can we?

Both quarterbacks played great. Final stats: Stafford was 25-for-36 for 367 yards with two touchdowns and a 120.9 passer rating. Goff was 22-for-27 for 222 yards with one touchdown and a 121.8 rating. A mere nine-tenths of a point separating their ratings.

The game could have gone either way, and it looked like it was going to be a shootout when the Lions took a 21-17 lead into halftime. But before that happened, it looked like the football gods were somehow, someway finally on the Lions’ side after Stafford got tangled with his running back and tripped on the first down of the Rams’ second possession and took a sack for a 9-yard loss.

Stafford still wriggled out of it, got a first down and then threw a 50-yard touchdown bomb to Puka Nacua, who beat Cam Sutton with a stutter-step move down the left sideline. That cut the Rams’ deficit to 14-10 early in the second quarter.

Stafford engineered one last touchdown drive late in the quarter when he converted a fourth-and-5, then hit Tutu Atwell, who beat Kindle Vildor, on a deep route for a 38-yard touchdown catch. That cut the Rams’ deficit to 21-17.

The Rams made two more trips to the red zone but mustered only field goals. The Lions’ defense did enough, through its constant blitzing, to affect Stafford, hurrying his process just enough to tighten his throwing windows and limit his effectiveness.

Stafford walked off a loser by one point. At the very least, he said he understood fans booing him.

“It’s a playoff game,” he said. “I’m not surprised that they were excited about cheering for their team, and I’m not too worried about anybody’s personal feelings towards to me that was sitting in the stands.”

Good, because after what turned out to be a one-sided infatuation on Detroit’s behalf for a dozen years, the city can finally stop carrying the torch for this unrequited love. Now the affair is finally over. Stafford moved on three years ago. Sunday night, everyone in Detroit did, too.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matthew Stafford has one last petty moment in return to Detroit