DETROIT -- They looked at each other with two minutes left Sunday afternoon, the first-year offensive coordinator and his pupil, quarterback Matthew Stafford. And in many ways it was just like the two games before.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and Stafford had brought the Lions back against New Orleans and Atlanta, and here they were again against the Miami Dolphins, 38 yards from the end zone, almost in field-goal range and with a chance to win a game in the final two minutes for the third straight game.

Knowing the position and the talent and the poise of the quarterback, they agreed on one idea.

“We both kind of looked at each other,” Stafford said. “and said, 'Let’s go score. Let’s go win this thing.'”

A little more than 90 seconds later, Stafford found Theo Riddick with a sidearm pass while rolling left. And with a teeny, tiny window to hit his receiver, Stafford managed it again. Riddick’s 11-yard touchdown catch gave Detroit a 20-16 lead with 29 seconds left, the third straight comeback win for the Lions in the last two minutes and the first time in franchise history when they had won three straight games in the waning seconds.

Matthew Stafford is developing into a player with a great late-game reputation. Joe Robbins/Getty Images

This -- the final moments of games, when his team needs him the most -- is when Stafford has thrived in his career. When he can stay the same quarterback he has always been, maybe even become just a little bit better.

In his sixth NFL season, he has now put together 15 game-winning fourth-quarter drives. Of those, 11 have come with two minutes or less in the game. And for him, it seems ... fun.

“I just have a good time in ‘em,” Stafford said. “It’s one of those unique situations in sports where everyone’s back’s against the wall and it’s a total team thing. It’s not an individual thing. You’ve got to rely on everybody, and everybody stepped up.

“There’s no better feeling than when you come out of that drive successful, as a team, as an offense. Obviously, you fight tooth and nail for that feeling.”

It’s a good time for all the Lions right now. Stafford bringing Detroit back again is turning into a theme this season. It no longer surprises his teammates. It doesn’t surprise his coach, who is still really learning all the intricacies of his quarterback’s game.

Consider, in his final drive Sunday, Stafford drove his team 74 yards. He was 8-of-11, including a throwaway, the final part of a 25-of-40, 280-yard, two-touchdown, one-interception day.

“The guy gets in his mind that he’s going to win the game, and that’s what he does,” said his longtime top target, Calvin Johnson. “He’s the most accurate quarterback, to me, in the league. He puts the ball where ever he needs to put it.

“He helps us out a ton and we just try to make plays for him.”

He can do it from every angle. Stafford can complete throws with the traditional drop-back and over-the-top delivery. He makes throws after extending plays with his new-found footwork. And he can complete passes running left and tossing the ball sidearm, which is how he completed the touchdown pass to Riddick.

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This is who Stafford has always been, a multifaceted, multi-arm-slot quarterback who thrives taking risks and ignoring pressure. In the past, it has been to both his success and failure.

This season, though, he has excelled. For some reason, in situations when other quarterbacks can falter, Stafford ends up better.

“You don’t find many guys that can handle what he does, and there’s a lot of pressure out there in those situations,” Caldwell said. “There’s a lot on the line, and every single time he goes out there and attacks it the exact same way.

“He never gets flustered. He never loses his poise and he’s got good focus. In that time, you just listen to him talk and he’s got crystallized thought going all the time. We certainly appreciate that and that’s why he’s able to bring you back when most teams probably would falter.”

In the past, Stafford might have as well, because even with his big drives throughout his career, he has also made mistakes to cost Detroit games. This season, that Stafford has been nonexistent.

This Stafford is the one who wants to have that pressure, who wants to have be in situations similar to the ones he has faced the past three Sundays he has played.

“I just love that feeling,” Stafford said.

This season, so does Detroit.