If you were one of the many, many, MANY fans who wondered what strange twist of events had brought us to a world where Matthew Stafford could be the highest-paid player in NFL history, well, you got all the evidence you’d ever need with the Lions’ opening drive on Sunday.

Stafford, who recently signed a $135 million contract that ranked him ahead of every single football player in the history of recorded time, began the Lions’ first drive with a catastrophic pick-six:

Justin Bethel took the interception 82 yards for a touchdown and an early Cardinals lead. Stafford, who’s better known for throwing passes into the stratosphere than into the hands of opponents, threw only one pick-six last year, per ESPN stats.

Oh, and adding insult to pick-six, it was Matthew Stafford Bobblehead Day:

Yeah, it’ll get better for Stafford, because it damn sure couldn’t get any worse.

[Update: Yes, it got a lot better.]

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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