Jared Goff: Gut-Punches Will Stop

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff believes his new team can overcome adversity, even a call as bad as the missed delay of game call.

The revelation of a delay of game penalty that very likely should have been called against the Baltimore Ravens certainly felt like a gut-punch to many. 

For fans of the Detroit Lions, feeling like the organization has been on the short end of the stick oftentimes feels numbing, simply due to the sheer frequency of non-calls or flat-out bad calls that go against the team. 

“About as big of a gut punch as I’ve ever been a part of," quarterback Jared Goff said postgame. "I guess I’ll start this off by saying that this team, this city has been through a lot, obviously, in recent years and has had these gut punches. For me personally, it’s the hardest one I’ve been a part of." 

Recall, Goff and the Los Angeles Rams were defeated in the Super Bowl by the New England Patriots, 13-3, back in February of 2019. 

For Detroit's new signal-caller, the optimism does not subside despite the loss. 

"I think the resiliency that we’ve shown in the past amongst this group and then hopefully the new guys as well, the resiliency to push through something like this will remain. That optimism, that hope, that belief in each other because it was there. It was really there at the end," Goff said. "I know you guys could feel it there at the end with the fans, the crowd into it. We were into it. We felt really good about it and they made a field goal by a foot."

© Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC

"He (Justin Tucker) made a great kick. Your hats off to him. Lamar (Jackson) made a great play before that, but they made a field goal by a foot and we’re saying a different narrative right now if it’s not. ... So, all I’m saying is we will remain true, we will remain resilient and the gut punches will stop.”

Outside linebacker Charles Harris has also been part of his fair share of tough losses, with the most recent coming last season when the Lions were able to comeback against the Falcons in a dramatic fashion.  

“I was very disappointed, but at the same time no excuses. There are no excuses on the defense. Yeah, you’ve got to go back to work for real," Harris commented. 

Harris added, "We know for a fact that we gave them all we’ve got, and they didn’t walk out of here saying, ‘That was an easy one,’ you know what I mean. You know we imposed our will and our defense and that’s what we’re looking to come back and do constantly week after week.”