Five years ago, the Detriot Lions traded away Matthew Stafford, the former first-overall pick of the 2009 NFL draft and one of the franchise’s greatest players. Stafford would go on to win a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in his first season away from Detriot. He also made two of his three Pro Bowl appearances since leaving and won his first Most Valuable Player award. With all that he’s accomplished, it is easy to forget the player he was traded for, Jared Goff.
Goff has quietly carved out a pretty elite second half to his career since joining the Lions. Since being traded, Goff has made the Pro Bowl three times. After a tough start to his tenure, which saw him go 3-10-1 as a starter, Goff has not had a losing record since. In 2022, he led the Lions to a 9-8 record, passing for 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.
That was only the beginning of an excellent run as Detriot’s starter. In 2023, he led the team to a 12-5 record, passing for 4,575 yards, a career-high 30 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. The Lions won two playoff games that season and only lost to the 49ers by three points in the NFC Championship Game. It was the Lions’ first NFC Championship Game since 1992.
In the 2024 season, the Lions went 15-2, the best record in the league, and Goff passed for 4,629 yards, a career-high 37 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while completing a career-high 72.4 percent of his passes. Unfortunately, they would fall to the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round, 45-31.
The 2025 season was a down year for the team, as they finished 9-8 with one of the league’s worst defenses. Goff still looked solid; he threw for 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. The Lions missed the playoffs but kept their streak of winning seasons alive, which, if you’ve been watching football for a long time, you know is rare. The Lions were once the worst team in the league, year after year. They finished winless in 2008, and now they are at worst a tough matchup and at best contenders.
This season, Goff has been elite again. He has the Lions at 4-2, going 150 of 223 for 1,788 yards and 14 touchdowns while throwing 0 interceptions so far. Even with a weak defense, he can still deliver important wins, like this week against the Green Bay Packers. The Lions defeated their rivals 20-17, and Goff was fantastic. He went 22-of-32 for 303 yards and 2 touchdowns.
I decided to write about Goff today because I feel like he gets forgotten when people bring up the Matt Stafford trade. Yes, he’s been great with the Rams; winning the Super Bowl is awesome, but Goff has also been elite, and he should be recognized for that.
