You got the feeling, as the first half bled into the fourth quarter Sunday night, that Amon-Ra St. Brown would refuse to let the Lions lose. In the end, it was St. Brown who sealed the win.
Of course it was. There's no one the Lions trust more in critical moments. St. Brown proved his worth to Jared Goff when he caught a walk-off touchdown against the Vikings to cap a breakout performance in Week 10 of his rookie season, and Goff hasn't stopped throwing to him since. St. Brown has the most catches in the NFL over that span, Goff the second most passing yards. Only Patrick Mahomes has more.
They are in such lockstep that St. Brown says they can run routes in their sleep. Literally: Goff closed his eyes and hit him in stride some 30 yards down the field when they were having some fun last summer. Theirs is a connection rooted in trust, that St. Brown will get in and out of his breaks on time, and that Goff will get him the ball as soon as he comes open. Which is often.
And trust from the coaching staff that when the Lions need a play, Goff and St. Brown will deliver. So there they were, up one with two minutes to go, facing second down from their own 32, nine yards from a victory more than three decades in the making. Conventional wisdom said to run the ball and force the Rams to burn their final timeout. But when has Dan Campbell ever coached by convention? The Lions went to the air, and back to the well.
"That was the moment where we needed to seal this game, and we felt like the right thing to do was put it in (Goff's) hands and get it to our best player," said Campbell. "And we did that, man. Those guys executed."
It was a simple play, St. Brown one-on-one with the nickel. The Lions will take that matchup every time. St. Brown, who was compelled to help Goff level the score with the Rams, who wanted to win the game for his quarterback, ran a 10-yard curl out of the slot, "a route that we’ve been running for two years now," he said after the game on NBC.
"We’re pretty good at it, we do it a lot. We can do it in our sleep," St. Brown said. "Called it for the win, I knew he was coming to me, I had to go win. Jared threw a great ball and we sealed it."
Both Goff and St. Brown are cool under pressure because they don't really feel it. They never fear the stakes. Goff said the throw that clinched the Lions' first playoff win in 32 years, when a misfire could have set the stage for a heart-wrenching collapse, "was like every other rep we’ve had of that play a hundred, million times."
"It was pitch-and-catch," said Goff. "That dude’s as good as it gets and I was able to put it on him."
He really is. And together, they really are one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in the NFL. They linked up seven times for 110 yards against the Rams, which felt like just another day at the office. They might not take the top off a defense like, say, Tua and Tyreek, but Goff and St. Brown will surgically tear it apart. About a quarter of Goff's yards and darn-near half his completions with the Lions have gone to St. Brown. He has a passer rating when targeting the Sun God of 108.9. Mahomes, for reference, had a rating of 109.6 over his two MVP seasons.
St. Brown is one superstar to emerge out of Brad Holmes' first draft class as Lions GM. The other is fellow first-team All-Pro Penei Sewell, who had no doubt that St. Brown was going to put the game on ice Sunday night.
"Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time moments. It’s simple as that," said Sewell. "Nothing but proud of the guy and just expect it at this point. Every time JG and Amon-Ra get in their flow, it’s one of the best out there."
Goff and St. Brown represent the Lions' rebuild under Campbell and Holmes, two players who are continually raising their own bar. St. Brown has exceeded all outside expectations since he entered the NFL. Asked earlier this season if he's exceeded his own, he didn't blink when he said no. He knew exactly how good he could be. After a bounce-back performance against the Broncos last month, Goff brushed off the idea that he would ever pat himself on the back for playing well.
"No, no," he said. "I’ve been playing well year, so just going to keep doing it and keep trying to win games."
They normally don't celebrate the routine. But after the most routine route in their repertoire, Goff and St. Brown, ever in sync, made a brief exception.
"We’re going to celebrate today," said St. Brown, "but move on tomorrow."