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Jared Goff: Helping Detroit Lions advance 'so much more important than anything personally'
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- Jared Goff: Helping Detroit Lions advance 'so much more important than anything personally'
Jared Goff 's time with the Los Angeles Rams came to a bitter and abrupt end after five seasons, but the Detroit Lions quarterback said helping his new team win its first playoff game in more than 30 years will be the only thing on his mind when the Rams visit Ford Field for a wild card game this week .
"Obviously, there's a personal connection there, not just for me but for a lot of our players and some of theirs as well," Goff said. "But no, I think I so badly want to win a game for this city, and win a playoff game for this city that hasn't had one in so long. We have a home playoff game for the first time in so long. That's so much more important than anything personally for me. I want to be a part of this win and do my job to the best of my ability."
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Goff led the Rams to three playoff appearances and one Super Bowl trip in four seasons as a full-time starter, but he and Rams coach Sean McVay had a falling out after their final season together in 2020.
The Rams traded Goff and three draft picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford in January of 2021, and Stafford led the Rams to a championship the next winter.
Goff said Wednesday he and McVay have patched things up since their acrimonious divorce.
"Sean and I are good," he said. "Obviously, we had our differences there at the end, but he's a great coach, he's done a lot of great things. He's a guy that taught me a lot."
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And while much of the buildup for Sunday's game has focused on Goff and Stafford facing their old teams, Goff insisted Wednesday he has no extra emotion drawing the Rams for his first playoff game in Detroit.
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"It was kind of tracking there for a few weeks, so wasn't surprised or anything, just something that we knew could happen," he said. "When it became them we said, 'Ready to go and let's go do it.'"
The No. 1 pick of the 2016 draft, Goff went 42-27 in his five seasons in L.A. and made two Pro Bowl appearances. He led the league in yards per completion in 2017 and set career-highs with 4,688 yards and 32 touchdowns the next season, but his play plateaued after a 13-3 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53.
Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay talks with quarterback Jared Goff in the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium, Sept. 13, 2020 in Inglewood, Calif.
Written off by the Rams after he struggled with turnovers and was benched for the start of a playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks with a hand injury, Goff has revitalized his career in Detroit.
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He's led the Lions to a 24-23-1 record as starter and finished second in the NFL in passing yards this season, when he led the Lions to their first division title since 1993.
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"He deserved better than the way that it all went down," McVay told reporters Wednesday. "I'll acknowledge that and I think he knows that, too, and I'm not afraid to admit to those things but I think we're all better being able to look back on those things and I do have more appreciation for him as time goes on."
Goff said he sees similarities between his time in L.A. and his three seasons in Detroit.
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The Rams went from one of the worst teams in the NFL to an 11-win team and surprise playoff participant in 2017, much like last year's Lions emerged as postseason contenders after a rough start.
While the Rams made the Super Bowl in Goff's third season, Goff declined to compare that Rams team and this year's Lions.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff attempts pass against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
"The parallels are too hard to draw it was so long ago, but I think the progression of a team, sure," he said. "From Year 1 to Year 3, it kind of does (feel like) that. But, no, the comparison of the teams is impossible to make."
If the Lions have a magical playoff run in them this winter, Goff will be the one leading the way. The Lions rank top-five in most offensive categories and Goff has nine touchdown passes and two interceptions in the past four games.
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Lions coach Dan Campbell has praised Goff's resilience and even-keeled approach in recent weeks, and he said Wednesday those traits should serve Goff well this week.
"I think it means a lot," Campbell said. "He's wired the right way. He's been through this. He's been to the big one, so he's dealt with this a number of times, not just the playoff wins. And I bring this up again, he came to our place (when I was with the New Orleans Saints ), NFC championship game and won the game for them. And so, he's been in the big ones and he understands what it is. He understands that you can't get too high or too low, you just focus on your job."
Campbell said he expects Goff to feel "a certain way" about facing his old coach and old team, though he's seen nothing to indicate Goff's blood pressure has spiked this week.
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"I think he's handled it all well," he said. "I don't think this is going to be something that he loses sleep over, that he loses focus on. He understands this: If you really feel that way, the best way to do is to play the very best football you can play."
For Goff, that means taking his normal approach to game week, even with all that's at stake.
"It's been a goal of mine since I got here, seeing the opportunity to be a part of something that's from the ground up, and to be able to be where we're standing right now and have a chance to win the Super Bowl is pretty exciting," Goff said. "We've got a long way to go and the Rams are the first team in our way and we got to go handle business, but yeah, it's been a long road to this point and it's a long road ahead as well."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
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Next up: Rams
Matchup: Lions (12-5) vs. L.A. Rams (10-7), NFC wild-card playoff.
Kickoff: 8 p.m. Sunday; Ford Field, Detroit.
TV/radio: NBC; WXYT-FM (97.1).
Line: Lions by 3.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jared Goff: Sean McVay and I 'good'; Detroit Lions win his top concern
