In front of Detroit Lions wide receiver Jack Campbell (46), Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) scores a touchdown during an NFL football game on Sunday, November 12, 2023, in Inglewood, California. (Denis Poroy/AP Photo)
Lions Chargers Football
Detroit Lions tight end Brock Wright (89), right, celebrates with Antoine Green (80) after he scored a touchdown during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, November 12, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Sean McVay didn’t trust Jared Goff. Not anymore. Goff had led the Los Angeles Rams from 10 straight losing seasons to the Super Bowl, but as his production ebbed and the turnovers flowed more than ever, doubt began to set in. By the end of 2020, McVay had seen enough.
He ran Goff out of Los Angeles — out of this very building — and was meeting with Matthew Stafford in Cabo before the ink was dry on the paperwork.
“I was disappointed for 2 minutes,” Goff once said of the trade that sent him to Detroit. “Then I spoke to these guys on the phone, and it was like a breath of fresh air. Being able to hear from Dan (Campbell), being able to hear from Brad (Holmes), being able to hear from (then-offensive coordinator) Anthony Lynn, people around the organization, Rod (Wood), Sheila (Hamp), everyone. It was immediately, ‘OK, this is where I’m supposed to be. This is how it’s supposed to go down.”
And what, exactly, is supposed to go down?
“I know football is king (in Detroit),” Goff said that day. “And I plan to make it a winner.”
Excuse me. The Detroit Lions? Those Detroit Lions? A winner? After replacing their best quarterback ever with a guy who was packaged with three draft picks, including two first-rounders, just to get his hindquarters out of Los Angeles? Really?
In his return to L.A., Goff showed just how close they really are.
Just how close he really is.
Goff threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday to lead the Lions to a thrilling 41-38 win against the Chargers in a track meet at SoFi Stadium. That’s good stuff, although it only begins to tell the tale of the tape. The Chargers rattled off five straight touchdowns to end the game, the last three of which knotted up the score. They also made quality adjustments against Detroit’s running game, and allowed just 23 yards on the ground after the break.
In short, the Lions needed Goff to be perfect to prevail.
That’s exactly what he was.
After L.A. tied up the score at 24-all in the third quarter, Goff found Amon-Ra St. Brown to move the chains on third down, then went right back to St. Brown for a 20-yard touchdown pass. And when the Chargers scored again, Goff did too, feathering a ball over the top of the defense and into the fingertips of tight end Brock Wright.
And when the Chargers scored yet again with 3:32 left, Goff immediately found a wide-open Kalif Raymond for 41 yards. Just like that, the Lions were in position for a go-ahead field goal. And even when they were pushed back out of range on two plays that lost yardage, Goff moved them back into scoring position with a 12-yard strike to, who else, St. Brown.
That set up fourth-and-2, and a potential go-ahead field goal from 43 yards out with about 90 seconds left.
By now, you surely know what happened next.
Campbell ordered his offense to stay on the field, a decision that was as much about the defense — which hadn’t stopped Justin Herbert from finding the end zone in almost three quarters — as anything else. But it was about Jared Goff too, and the trust Campbell has in his quarterback. The trust he’s always had in his quarterback, dating all the way back to those early days, when the world scoffed at Goff as a placeholder for some bright rookie who would ultimately come along.
But Campbell insisted Detroit already had its quarterback. Goff felt that trust, and as his confidence grew, his game did too. That first half-season in Detroit was rough, but Goff finished it playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Last season, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He said he was playing the best ball of his career, and his career includes a run to the Super Bowl.
This year, he’s played even better.
Once left for dead by L.A., Goff has found new life in Detroit, and a renewed trust too. Which brings us back to that fourth-and-2 on Sunday, and Cambell’s daring decision to go for the win rather than the points.
“I trusted our guys,” Campbell said, “and trust Goff.”Once again, Goff delivered. He cooly worked through his progressions, scanning from his running back to his tight end and then a receiver. None of them was open, and the rush was closing in.
