A little more than two months after the Detroit Lions watched their Super Bowl hopes evaporate as they blew a 17-point lead in the NFC Championship game, Jared Goff is turning his frustration into motivation.
The Lions quarterback spoke out about the team’s heartbreaking conclusion to the season, when they were unable to hold onto a 24-7 halftime lead over the San Francisco 49ers. Speaking to reporters on April 16 during the team’s second day of the team’s offseason program, Goff predicted they would return even stronger after the defeat.
Goff said the NFC title game loss was a culmination of factors that all seemed to fall against the Lions, but said he believes they still should have found a way to win the game.
“I don’t know, it seems a lot of things just didn’t go our way. I hate for that to sound like an excuse, because we feel like we should’ve won that game anyway. The second half, they played well, and we didn’t,” Goff said. “That’s kind of the bottom line. I wish I could go back and pinpoint some plays for you, but there was a lot of them. There wasn’t just one. There wasn’t just one thing that went wrong. There was a handful of them, and that’s the way the ball bounced that day.”
Lions QB Jared Goff on contract talks: I love it in Detroit, "would love to be here for a long time"https://t.co/DaBV0Kf4Yt pic.twitter.com/rFurwEemr9
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Goff has been to the summit before, reaching the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams though ultimately losing to the New England Patriots. His arrival in 2021 helped spark a massive turnaround in Detroit, leading the Lions to their first division title in 30 years last season including the second trip to the NFC Championship game in franchise history.
The Lions quarterback said getting so close to the Super Bowl last season should provide lasting motivation for the team to return.
“I think we got a chance to kind of taste it last year. So, you get to see what it feels like. This year, it’s absolutely the goal,” Goff said. “Obviously, the expectations and our standards will rise, and the outside expectations will rise and the outside standards will rise. But internally, we’re gonna do the same thing we’ve been doing, and try to raise our internal expectations and standards.”
Lions Will Face Tougher Path Next Season
The Lions went into the 2023 season as favorites to win the NFC North and ultimately delivered with a 12-5 campaign and No. 3 overall seed. But Goff believes reaching the NFC title game paints an even bigger target on the team for next season.
That was a point that Lions head coach Dan Campbell emphasized while speaking to reporters after the loss to the 49ers, and Goff said he agrees with the assessment.
“It’s gonna be harder, people are gonna be gunning for us,” Goff said. “You know, it’s gonna be harder for us to defend our division title. That’s number one, and then see where we can go from there. But absolutely, holding that trophy at the end of the year, only one team gets to do it. And, that’s our goal.”
