The Los Angeles Rams gave up on Jared Goff.
The Detroit Lions believed, and the NFL’s best story in 2024 has become football heaven for a resurrected Goff.
Goff has found a new football home in Detroit
Goff has found a new football home in Detroit
The actual story — filled with draft picks, injuries, playoff heartbreak, trade deadlines and salary-cap problems — is much more complicated than that.
But by swapping Goff and multiple future amateur selections for Matthew Stafford, the splashy Rams won Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles with Detroit’s former franchise quarterback.
“Basically they were sending him (Goff) to Detroit to throw him to career suicide,” Eric Woodyard, Detroit Lions beat writer for ESPN, exclusively told talkSPORT.
In the middle of America, the Lions are 27-7 the last two seasons with Goff in blue-and-silver, while Dan Campbell’s super-resilient Detroit crew is the hottest team in the NFL entering the playoffs.
“Holmes had previous experience with him (Goff), so I think bringing them in and having that confidence,” Woodyard said.
“(Holmes) understood the format and the blueprint of how to make Goff successful, and that’s to put the right tools around him.”
Lions fans are waiting for the playoffs to beginCredit: Getty
A 6ft 5in and 335lb offensive tackle out of Oregon helped Goff eventually change his career and the overall story surrounding a QB who was viewed as good but never close to elite.
“If you look at the very first pick of Brad Holmes, he got Penei Sewell,” Woodyard said.
“So building in the trenches. … Then he brought in a lot of offensive weapons.
“So you draft Amon-Ra St. Brown, you draft Jameson Williams and you draft Jahmyr Gibbs.
“You draft all these weapons that they’ve brought in, and it’s the perfect match around Goff.”
The 2024 season was the most efficient regular-season campaign of Goff’s nine-year career.
He completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 4,629 yards, 28 touchdowns and a career-best 111.8 rating.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has become the brightest name on the coaching market, while the NFC’s No. 1 seed is also the highest-scoring offense (33.2 points) in the league.
Campbell, Johnson, St. Brown and Gibbs all deserve serious credit for creating the most exciting Lions team in franchise history.
But it starts and ends with Goff, who’s two wins away from Detroit’s first Super Bowl appearance.
Being traded to the Lions was supposed to be ‘career suicide’ for the California-born Goff.
Detroit is 15-2 and the kings of the NFC North.
Jason Bell discusses whether Detroit Lions star Jared Goff could win the MVP award this season
The Lions are healing and waiting for their Divisional Round playoff opponent, while lesser teams try to survive the wild card.
“He’s peaking at the right time,” Woodyard said. “His confidence is high. The city’s embraced him and it’s just a perfect storm.
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