Jared Goff knows how it feels when a downtrodden team turns the corner. He helped lift California from one win to a Bowl win in three years. He helped lift the Rams from four wins to the Super Bowl in three years. And in his third year in Detroit, Goff has lifted the Lions to a 7-2 start as they seek their first division title in 30 years.
In Goff's first three seasons in LA, the Rams' offense climbed from last in the NFL to 10th and ultimately to second the year they reached the Super Bowl, guided by Sean McVay. The Lions' offense, guided by another bright young mind in Ben Johnson, has jumped from 22nd to fourth to second in Goff's three seasons in Detroit.
Which might get you thinking: are the 2023 Lions on the same track as the 2018 Rams? Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket that "it's so hard to compare" the two teams and the "different ways that we're winning, but I think what you do feel that is a little bit similar is the belief in each other and the belief that you’re going to win."
"You’re walking into every game believing that you’re going to win and (you're going) to make those plays throughout the game, specifically late in the fourth quarter, and that was something we had in LA certainly that one year. But it does feel that way, that we can make those plays in the fourth quarter when they matter and that we can match up with anybody."
The only team the Lions haven't matched up with this season is the Ravens, who housed them 38-6 in Baltimore last month. Otherwise, the Lions have looked the part of a contender. After they won a 41-38 thriller against the Chargers in Goff's old home last week by putting up 533 yards of offense, color commentator Tony Romo said Detroit has the goods to make the trip to Vegas for the Super Bowl.
Your thoughts, Dan Campbell?
"You can’t just say, ‘We’re going to go to the Super Bowl and we’re going to win the Super Bowl,'" Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "There’s steps you gotta take to get there and the biggest step is and your odds are the best when you get a home game, you’re seeded the best and things run through you. To do that, man, you gotta win your division. So that’s the focus right now."
The Lions have a 1.5 game lead in the NFC North, with five of their final eight games against division opponents. That starts Sunday against the Bears and concludes with two games in three weeks against the Vikings. Minnesota has clawed back in the race by winning five in a row, despite having lost quarterback Kirk Cousins for the season.
"We gotta assume Minnesota's going to win out until they get to us and we see each other again," Campbell said. "So we gotta keep winning, we gotta keep doing our thing. And Chicago, talent wise, I think they’re a better team than what we just faced and we gotta be ready. I think (Justin Fields) will be back, so we got our hands full, man. We gotta put it together here."
The 2018 Rams, by the way, were coming off a division title and a home playoff game the year prior. The 2023 Lions have yet to take that leap, though they do boast a 15-4 record -- and 4-0 in primetime -- since last November. If this season is another stepping stone toward the Super Bowl for the Lions, so be it. Just don't try that on Campbell, Goff and the rest of this team.
"We’re no different than anybody else," Campbell said. "Ultimately, when you start the season, if you don’t have the end in mind, then what the hell are you doing? Of course that’s where you want to get."