It was so loud inside Ford Field last Sunday night that Jared Goff couldn't hear himself talk when the Lions defense was on the field.
"We’d be doing little sideline adjustments and you had to wait until the play’s over and then go back to doing it," Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket.
The Lions' first home playoff game in 30 years, which crested in a 24-23 win over Matthew Stafford and the Rams, lived up to expectations. Goff called it "the greatest (atmosphere) I’ve ever been in front of." The crowd noise posed an obstacle for LA's offense, and ultimately played a big role in Detroit's win.
"It makes things difficult in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, it slows up communication and make things hard," said Goff. "Teams that have the home-field advantage like we do, it really does makes a difference. It forced two time-outs for them early in the third quarter, which I’m sure they didn’t want to do and allowed us to only need one more first down at the end of the game there."
After being awarded a game ball Sunday night, Goff told his teammates in the locker room that "this is just the fu**ing beginning" and "we got three more of these motherfu**ers, next week, at home, at our place, against whoever the f**k wants to come in here." He said Tuesday that the Lions are "as confident as we've been."
"We're playing good ball, won a few in a row now and it’s fun to play at home, man. That was the message there, is that whoever wants to come in here and feel this crowd, feel this raucous environment, and try to win a game in our place, good luck to ‘em," said Goff. "We’ll be ready to go."
That will be the Buccaneers, Sunday at 3 p.m, after Tampa Bay knocked off the Eagles in the final wild-card game Monday night. The Lions beat the Bucs in Tampa back in Week 6 on a day that Goff threw 44 passes and piled up a season-high 353 yards in Detroit's 20-6 win. He was also sacked three times by one of the most aggressive pass rushes in the NFL. The Bucs had the third-highest blitz rate (40.1 percent) in the league this season and tied for seventh in sacks (48) under defensive-minded head coach Todd Bowles.
They will pose a major challenge Sunday for the Lions and their offensive line, after sacking Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts four times in Monday night's 32-9 rout. They will also create opportunities for Goff and Detroit's receivers.
"It’s always a challenge picking up (the blitz) in protection but when you do, there’s voids all over the field," said Goff. "Typically when teams blitz like that, they’re willing to leave those voids, banking on getting home, and they’re one of those teams. Sometimes they get home, sometimes they don’t, but they’re a really good defense and a team that gave us some challenges earlier in the year and we’ll have our hands full again."
So will Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense in one of the rowdiest stadiums in the NFL.
"Our fans bring it, they really do, and the challenge now will be can they outdo themselves this week?" said Goff. "But that was really unbelievable (last week) and the support for me personally was really special. It was fun."
When the fans chanted his name -- 'Ja-red Goff! -- in pregame warmups before he faced his former team, Goff said it was the first time in his career that he'd heard that.
"That was really cool. The support I felt from them, the support I have felt from them since I got here has been pretty incredible through the ups and downs," he said. "Being in that moment there and hearing that, given the circumstances, it was pretty special."