DETROIT — The Detroit Lions are legitimate contenders in the NFC because Jared Goff has become a top-tier quarterback again.
The 2016 No. 1 overall pick who once led the Rams to an NFC title was given away by Los Angeles in the trade for Matthew Stafford. The Rams had to send Detroit extra picks just to take Goff and his salary.
But Goff has gone from a stopgap QB to a Pro Bowl player, helping the Lions to a 5-1 start. He has 1,618 yards passing with 11 TDs, 3 interceptions and a 105.1 passer rating in six games. Last season, he had 29 TD passes and only seven picks.
“It’s awesome playing with someone like Goff,” wideout Jameson Williams said. “He gets it done and makes the right decisions all the time and we (are) just looking to keep going right now.”
In Detroit’s impressive 20-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Goff threw for 353 yards and two TDs with no turnovers against a tough defense that had extra time to prepare for him after a bye.
The Lions had to rely more on Goff and the passing game after running back David Montgomery was injured.
“Jared Goff had an outstanding day,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “I thought he really helped us win this game, on offense. That’s a damn good defense that we faced and we knew that coming in here and they made it hard on us.”
While the Eagles and 49ers both lost for the first time, the Lions took care of business in convincing fashion to get in the mix for the top spot in the NFC.
The Lions, who entered the season with high expectations after going 8-2 in the final 10 games in 2022, beat the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs on the road to kick off the season and have lived up to the preseason hype so far.
“We know who we are,” Goff said. “We feel like we can go beat anyone right now.”
For a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 1991 season, the Lions are already talking about trying to secure home-field advantage in the NFC.
“Last year we started off 1-6 and now to start off 5-1 is huge for us,” wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “We put so much focus into each week and so much preparation and to come out with a victory feels really good. But we know we have bigger goals ahead of us. We want to keep doing what we’re doing, we want to get to the playoffs, we want to have home-field advantage for the playoffs. There’s so many things that we want to accomplish this year. This is just a start for us. We gotta keep going.”
The Lions face another tough challenge on the road this week at Baltimore (4-2). The Ravens have a strong defense so Goff will be tested.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.