Goff: Lions Can Still Have 'Great Season' Despite Ravens Loss
On Sunday against the Ravens, the Lions suffered their worst loss of the 2023 season. It was a 38-6 beatdown at the hands of Lamar Jackson & Co., and it wasn't a pretty performance, by any stretch of the imagination, for Lions signal-caller Jared Goff.
Goff, who was under duress all afternoon long from the Ravens' potent pass-rush, was sacked five times, and completed a season-low 62.3 percent of his passes. He also tossed an interception, and failed to throw a single touchdown in the Week 7 contest.
“We got our butts kicked a little bit, and yeah, it happens,” Goff said of the loss, on the “Karsch and Anderson” show on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday. “Unfortunately, it does happen. Fortunately for us, we can sit here at 5-2, and be able to get some things fixed and still have a great season ahead of us. But, yeah, not good on a lot of fronts, and certainly look inward at yourself and see where you can get better.”
With Goff leading the way under center, Detroit went three-and-out on its first three offensive possessions in Baltimore, and failed to record a first down until the 7:42 mark in the second quarter. It was an anemic display from Ben Johnson’s unit that saw the Lions score their very first and only touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter (on Jahmyr Gibbs’ first career rushing TD).
Additionally, it marked the end of the team’s streak of 15 straight games with at least 20 points.
As the offense continued to be unable to move the football down the field, Goff’s conversations on the sideline with Johnson and quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell remained positive.
“Yeah, just trying to find a way to get on track, to get our feet underneath us and make some plays,” Goff expressed, regarding the conversation on the sideline as Detroit went down 28-0 early in the second quarter. “You know, (talking about) what we like, what we think will get us a first down. We talk about it all the time, just getting that first first down, and things tend to go our way after that. Finding a way to get 10 yards and move on from there. But, we certainly struggled early on.”
Now, the veteran quarterback will look to bounce back in Detroit's Week 8 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football.
“Certainly some things showed up in that game that’s uncharacteristic of who we are, who I am,” Goff said. “Yeah, you get that stuff fixed, and you move on. It’s ultimately one of 17 (games), and it only counts for one loss, as they all do. But, yeah, you figure it out, you get some of that stuff addressed and you move on to the Monday night game.”
Goff is 4-2 all-time all-time on Monday Night Football, with 13 touchdowns, five interceptions and 1,700 yards in such games. His best Monday Night Football performance came in Week 11 of the 2018 season, in a highly memorable game between his former employer, the L.A. Rams, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Goff threw for 413 yards and four touchdowns in the 54-51 win for the Rams.
Even with the saturation of NFL games now, including games played on both Thursday night and Sunday night, playing on Monday night still carries special meaning for the eighth-year pro.
“It’s the only game on that day, after the big slate of games on Sunday. The excitement’s just at the end, and you get one more big pop on Monday night,” Goff said. “You get the great crew with Troy (Aikman) and Joe (Buck). It’s a special night. You always grew up, I remember coming home from school, and you were like, We get Monday Night Football tonight. It’s always something that’s exciting, (you) sit around, eat dinner and watch the game.
“It’s always fun to play on that Monday night, and for us to be at home, in front of our home crowd for the first time in a long time out here, it’ll be exciting.”
