One throw, one game, one win at a time, Jared Goff is carving out a future in Detroit. This would have been unfathomable a year ago when the Lions were 1-11-1 and Goff was stumbling through the worst season of his career. Hell, it would have been hard to believe two months ago when the Lions were 1-6 and Goff was among the league leaders in turnovers.
Now they're chasing a playoff spot and Goff is playing the best football of his life. Funny how things change. Led by a rejuvenated quarterback, the Lions visit the Jets on Sunday eyeing their sixth win in the past seven games.
"It makes the work and the time you’re putting in mean something," Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "When you put in all this time and work and you're not getting the results you want, it’s hard to show up to work every day. But you keep doing it, you keep your head down and now it’s a whole lot of fun to show up to work. That’s how it is across the NFL for good teams, and we’re playing like one. We’re playing like a really good team now. Got some work to do still, but it’s a lot of fun to be a Lion."
It has to be especially fun for Goff, the leader of one of the best offenses in the NFL. The Lions topped 30 points in last Sunday's win over the Vikings for a league-high seventh time this season and are looking more dangerous by the week. They're only getting healthier on offense, where Goff is thriving with a deep cast of weapons and a whip-smart play-caller in Ben Johnson. It's a polite understatement when he says, "It’s a really tough group to defend right now."
And the Lions could be even more dangerous next season. GM Brad Holmes has four picks in the first two rounds of next year's draft and money to spend in free agency. For Goff, it's an attractive situation. And for the Lions, Goff is looking like an attractive QB. He's seventh in the NFL in passer rating, sixth in QBR and tied for fifth in touchdowns.
"There’s so much young talent on this team and Brad’s done a great job of bringing these guys in," said Goff. "We got (Jameson Williams) going this week and even guys like (D'Andre) Swift and Penei (Sewell) and Jonah (Jackson) who are young and up and coming, it’s a lot to look forward to. I mean, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, you forget that he’s so young, he’s another one.
"There’s a lot to look forward to with this group and it’s a fun team to be on."
It was reported last weekend that the Lions consider Goff their quarterback for the future, not a bridge to the next guy as many presumed when they acquired him from the Rams in the Matthew Stafford trade. This is in keeping with everything Holmes has said from the start, namely that the Lions didn't view Goff as a throw-in to the trade or a penalty for better draft capital.
Goff, who was nominated for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award last week for his off-field work in Detroit, is signed through 2024 with cap hits of $30.7 million and $31.7 million. Asked if he envisions himself as the Lions' long-term quarterback, he said, "It’s not necessarily up to me, but yeah, I’ve enjoyed my time here."
"We’re winning games now and I've had a lot of fun in the community. It's been a lot of fun to connect with those people and be the quarterback of this team and we’ll see where it goes. But right now, I’m enjoying my time and just focused on beating the Jets," said Goff.
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