Every young quarterback in the NFL needs a reliable tight end, and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford has one in Brandon Pettigrew.
With all of the attention focused on wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Pettigrew, a third-year player, could cause damage and is the X-factor for this game.
“As a quarterback it’s nice to know that when defenses are trying to take away weapons on the outside of the field, you can attack them one-on-one on the inside,” Stafford said. “It’s nice to have a big-time tight end to do that.”
Stafford will lean on Pettigrew, who’s 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, for third-down conversions and in the red zone. Pettigrew has 34 catches for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Eleven of his catches have gone for first downs.
“He’s doing a great job for us,” Stafford said.
Chicago’s Matt Spaeth is the only tight end to score a touchdown against the Falcons this season. The defense did a good job against Tampa Bay’s Kellen Winslow (two catches for 20 yards) and Seattle’s Zach Miller (seven catches for 21 yards).
However, the Falcons have been hurt by tight ends when extra help is required outside on receivers.
Against Green Bay, tight end Jermichael Finley had four catches for 67 yards, but had a couple of big drops that would have put him over 100 yards.
Last week, the defense held Carolina’s Steve Smith to five catches for 66 yards, but tight ends Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey combined for nine catches and 102 yards.
Like Finley, Pettigrew has the ability to stress the middle of the defense.
Falcons linebackers Curtis Lofton and Sean Weatherspoon will see some time covering Pettigrew.
“We’ll have our share of battles,” said Weatherspoon, who played against Pettigrew once in college. Weatherspoon played at Missouri and Pettigrew at Oklahoma State.
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