​Coffee is for Matthew Stafford: All Hail the NFL's King of Closers

In six of the Detroit Lions' eight games played this year, Matthew Stafford has been given the ball and a pittance of time on the clock to drive for a game-winning score. Against the Tennessee Titans, he threw one of just five interceptions he's thrown all year. Against everybody else, he's closed the deal.

That's right: The Lions are now 5-4, and Stafford's late-game heroics are responsible for every single one of the Lions' wins. Even more impressively, he keeps ramping up the degree of difficulty.

Today, Stafford took over on his own 25-yard line, with 23 seconds left and no timeouts. All he had to do was drive all the way into field-goal range against the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense. No problem: He just flicked a laser down the middle of the field, led his team on a 27-yard group sprint, lined them all up and spiked it.

Kicker Matt Prater absolutely drilled the resulting 58-yard field goal, setting up overtime. 1st and 10, do it again: Stafford and the Lions won the toss and took the ball, Stafford completed all five of his attempts for 73 yards and this spectacular Golden Tate score:

Vikings have Golden Tate double teamed, fail to tackle him and the Lions win in OT pic.twitter.com/ZnhyddY5B8
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) November 6, 2016

When Golden Tate went full parkour over the goal line, Stafford notched his fifth game with a fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive. Per Pro Football Reference, only Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, and Dan Pastorini (!) have ever put up more such games in a season. After racking up five in nine, he only needs three in the final seven games to break the all-time record.

But Stafford has been more than just historically clutch.

If the 16 full weeks that Jim Bob Cooter has served as the Lions' offensive coordinator had been a full season, it would have been the best of Stafford's career: 68.9 percent completion rate, 4,333 yards, 35 touchdowns against just six interceptions, and a 106.8 passer efficiency rating.

In fact, by passer rating, Stafford's second half of last year and first half of this year would be the 15th best 16-start season any quarterback has ever had. Since Cooter's promotion, Stafford's reached a level of quarterbacking only a handful of the game's most legendary quarterbacks have even sniffed.

Of course, the Lions' stone-handed wideouts, iffy protection, and sieve-like secondary have forced him to A, always, B, be, C, closing—but the cold-blooded Stafford is entitled to drink all the coffee he wants.