When Matthew Stafford threw the game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick, he wasn’t thinking about his mechanics.

It was a sidearm pass, one of many that the Detroit Lion quarterback has thrown throughout the years and one of at least two he threw on Sunday in the 20-16 win over the Miami Dolphins.

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Coach Jim Caldwell is good with it.

“One of the things that I learned a long time ago is that, particularly when you’re talking about passers, they develop their rhythm to throw and how they throw from the time they were in seventh and eighth grade,’’ Caldwell said after the game.

He said it’s just part of who a quarterback is.

“Matthew has an uncanny ability to throw a little sidearm sometimes, but he’s extremely accurate. I mean that throw he made to Calvin (Johnson) on the right hand side down the field was a sidearm throw, and then obviously the touchdown pass, moving to his left,’’ Caldwell said. “So, those are the things that you can waste a lot of time trying to adjust something to a guy who does it well. You may not like it all the time, but nevertheless, I think for the most part when you add it up, he’s pretty doggone good.”

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Stafford said when he throws a sidearm style pass it just happens.

“There’s absolutely no thought going into that,’’ Stafford said. “At that point you play this game long enough you get into those situations where your body just kind of takes over. Apparently my mind thought that the best way to get that ball to him quickly as I could in that spot was to drop it down a little bit, so it happened. It was a big play for us.”

Indeed.

Stafford was 25 of 40 for 280 yards with two touchdowns — including a 49-yard bomb to Johnson — and one interceptions. He was sacked three times. 

Fans, mostly fans, are bothered with Stafford’s mechanics.

When Caldwell was hired he said he would work to make Stafford a better quarterback using drills that had been successful with Peyton Manning.

Clearly, Caldwell is good with Stafford’s sidearm style.