Detroit Lions' Jared Goff reflects on team's first playoff win in three decades

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - Jared Goff had already completed the pass to his wide receiver, but for the Detroit Lions quarterback, there was still enough time on the clock that he wasn't sure if they had secured the victory.

"I had to do a little math in my head - and I should know under two minutes, no timeouts, it's over," he said. "But it took me a second to compute all that."

He likely wasn't the only one calculating if he had done enough. But when three decades of defeats and letdowns are weighing on finishing one of the franchise's most important games ever, even the quarterback can double-check, just to be sure.

When the Lions' game against the Los Angeles Rams ended 24-23 Sunday night, so ended a drought many had spent their whole lives starving through. 

The team's first home playoff game at Ford Field brought with it all the jitters that accompany any knock-out round competition. But it also brought pressure and intensity fit for match years in the making. 

Even then, Goff, who was interviewed by FOX 2's Dan Miller the day after the victory, was still a bit astonished by how things ended.

"To be honest, I was surprised they gave it back to us like that," he said, referencing the Rams' decision to punt after a stout effort from the Lions' defense rather than attempt a play on 4th down. "With no timeouts and knowing all we needed was two first downs and we'd moved the ball pretty good all game, (we) just ran some core concepts for us and got two first downs and that was it."

Goff was one of two people to receive a game ball after the victory, with head coach Dan Campbell passing the other to General Manager Brad Holmes. After all, those two have been a part of the team's 2021 rebuild from the start.

So was Goff, who was a part of the massive trade that set both Detroit and L.A. on the collision course that reached its final chapter Sunday night.

In reflecting on the game only 16 hours after the final whistle, Goff said it wasn't an experience he had ever had before. He credited the city's commitment to its team as much as the team itself to making it special.

"I felt it when I came onto the field. That love I felt last night, I've never experienced anything like that," he said. "Really special to think about those moments and to cherish those moments and to think about how special those fans are to me, and I am to them, but it was a fun night and I'm glad to get the win for them."

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Goff added that while he was an important piece to the machine churning in Detroit, it was never about him but "about us."

"It was truly about our team, about our coaches, it was about this organization and going out and trying to get a first playoff win in a helluva long time and doing it on our home field," he said. "It had nothing to do with anyone else, it had nothing to do with me. It was about us, it was about our team."