Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions have been enjoying some rare success this season, but on Sunday, they were knocked to the ground and given a dose of reality. They were routed by the Baltimore Ravens, 38-6, and it was a day of total domination for Lamar Jackson and crew.
Jackson ran free, completing 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdown passes, and the Lions weren’t able to do anything to contain the Ravens’ passing game, which isn’t exactly laden with high-powered weapons. On the other side, Goff went 33 of 53, threw zero touchdown passes and had an interception while getting sacked five times.
It was the type of performance that gives Goff’s critics, of which there are plenty, ammunition. After the game, Goff did not hold back in his assessment of how he and his team did.
“We’ve been through a whole lot worse than this,” Goff said. “This was a tough game, and we got our butts kicked, but this group has had a lot of advisory, and this is kind of our first taste of getting kicked in the teeth this year. We need to respond the right way and show up — whatever it is — on Wednesday, whenever we come back, and make sure we are ready to go.”
However, he sounds confident they will respond the right way.
“I think we are further along at this point, than if this had hit us at some point in the last couple [of] years,” Goff said. “We will be able to bounce back the right way. Now, we have to go do it.”
The Lions started last season 1-6, but head coach Dan Campbell was able to get them to win eight of their next 10 games. It led to much optimism, not to mention hype, that they would be the best team in the NFC North this season, and Sunday’s beatdown notwithstanding, they have lived up to that hype.
Jared Goff used to be considered average or barely better than average among signal-callers a few years ago as a member of the Los Angeles Rams. He was able to take them to the Super Bowl in the 2018 season, but their high-powered offense was destroyed by the New England Patriots in a 13-3 defeat.
He made the Pro Bowl last season by posting 4,438 passing yards and 29 touchdown passes in one of his best seasons ever. Through seven games in 2023, he’s at 1,898 passing yards and 11 touchdown passes while completing 68.0 percent of his pass attempts.
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