Jared Goff is still dealing with a nagging narrative heading into his fifth season with the Detroit Lions following his trade from the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
Goff’s Rams exit came with the narrative that he could not lead them to a championship, for myriad reasons, including turnovers. Moreover, Matthew Stafford’s immediate success bolstered those sentiments ahead of their opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Entering the 2025 campaign, Goff’s current head coach, Dan Campbell, is echoing his old one.
Lions HC Dan Campbell Echoes Rams’ Sean McVay on Jared Goff
GettyLos Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay looks on during a game against the Cleveland Browns.
Campbell offered an explanation for the Lions’ NFC Divisional Playoffs loss to the Washington Commanders that sounded very similar to Rams head coach Sean McVay’s issues with Goff.
“If you say, ‘Why did we lose that game?’ We turned the ball over five times, and it’s really that simple. Now, we can get into, man, the read-run, some of the stuff they were doing. We have to defend that better. Yeah, we do. 5 turnovers. 5 turnovers in the NFL, it doesn’t matter how good you are, man, that’s hard to overcome,” Campbell said in the clip shared by Woodward Sports’ Eazy Ezerkis on September 5.
“The things that we did all year, man, there’s got to be an emphasis one more time on that. And we just didn’t take care of it. And so, we’re back to mall security being smart with the football at the quarterback position.”
Campbell has expressed his confidence in Goff since then, but his latest remarks are noteworthy
McVay’s issues with Goff came to a head during the 2020 season.
Then, the Rams head coach lit into his then-franchise QB during and after a 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
“In a lot of instances, just simple execution. Guys that we’re counting on, that have to be able to make plays, that didn’t do it in crunch-time moments. And those are things that, if we want to be the team that we’re capable of being, we need guys to be able to step up at certain spots,” McVay told reporters in November 2020. “It’s taking care of the football. Our quarterback’s got to take better care of the football.
“If we expect to do things as we move forward, we just have to take better care of the football. It’s as simple as that. And we’ve got to execute in certain spots, and it’s something that has to get better, and, really, that’s the bottom line.”
Goff had thrown 2 interceptions and lost a fumble in the contest.
That includes a 27-yard pick-6 by then 49ers defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. Fast forward to the 2024 playoffs, and Goff had 3 INTs, including a pick06, and a lost fumble against Washington.
Jared Goff Felt ‘Betrayed’ By Rams
GettyJared Goff #16 leads the Detroit Lions onto the field for their game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Goff previously said that he got the call about his trade from the Rams to the Lions from McVay after the fact. The call came just moments before news broke on social media.
“You feel like you’ve been betrayed or like you’re not wanted,” Goff said on Episode 2 of Netflix’s “Quarterback,” which aired in July. “Ultimately, it was the fact that there wasn’t a conversation had, and that there wasn’t a ‘Hey, we’re thinking about moving on’ type of thing. There was nothing. You wish that it wasn’t such a blind side,
“You wish that there was some sort of maturity, I guess, to have that conversation, and to be able to let me know what’s going on, and how things went down, and why this is happening. It was my first real taste of true adversity, and your career is kind of at a fork in the road.”
However, former NFL linebacker Lavar Arrington lambasted Goff for his sentiments.
“Quarterbacks, they must have an alternate reality,” Arrington said on “Two Pros and a Cup of Joe” in July. “They all just sound like a bunch of soft mother F’ers, man
“‘I felt like I wasn’t wanted.’ They didn’t want you. That’s why they traded you. If they wanted you, you wouldn’t be traded. So you felt like, what, that you were blindsided by it? That happens to players every single day.”
Moreover, the Rams’ decision on Goff was simply “business” in Arrington’s estimation.
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