Piece by: Trey Stanford
In the 2018-2019 NFL season, The L.A. Rams surprise everyone by not only cultivating a winning team, but by going to a Super Bowl that year. They were unceremoniously beaten by the New England Patriots in a game that could be described as about as fun as a slow bludgeoning.
Earlier that season, the Rams met the Kansas City Chiefs for a shootout for the ages. The Rams managed to edge out the AFC contenders 54-51, however, everyone came away from that game knowing that these players had an opportunity to be the future of the NFL. We weren’t wrong. Kansas City would go on to the AFC championship and in the following year, win the Super Bowl.
While in L.A. stars like Aaron Donald would go on to dominate and win multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards. However, in the last few years, something just hasn’t been clicking on offense.
Reports have come in that Goff has been losing authority in the locker room amongst other players. It has been called into question whether he could read defenses and remain consistent in not turning the ball over. Granted Goff was still a young quarterback in a highly competitive conference.
All teams in the NFC West have made at least one Championship appearance in the last 12 years, some of which have made multiple swings at the Lombardi. The Rams are feeling the pressure to produce on offense, what do they do? They trade Goff to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford. A guy who hasn’t won a single play off game his entire career. Now to be fair, that isn’t all Stafford’s fault! Coaching issues, faulty defenses, and WR’s who drop one too many balls begin to take their toll after a while. Stafford has still put up some impressive individual numbers.
At 33, The former lions QB is the fastest to over 45,000 passing yards in over 165 games and currently holds the record for most come from behind wins in a single season. He even shares a record with DeShaun Watson, Jameis Winston, and Daniel Jones (really?) for Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie QB at 5 touchdowns. His best season with the Lions came in 2014 when the team went on to a respectable 11-5 season only to be snuffed out in the first round of the of the Wild Card. Stafford didn’t see play-off action again until 2016 when they were, once again, defeated in the Wild Card. The Lions now hold the record for the longest play-off losing streak in the history of the NFL. How is that for consistency?
My point here is Stafford has maybe, MAYBE two seasons left to prove that he can deliver on post season wins. It is possible he could see success given the fact that the Seahawks will be a weaker team than they were last season, the 49ers will more than likely struggle, and the Cardinals might develop into a real threat over the off season. The conditions could be right for Stafford to lead the L.A. Rams to a play-off run but the question lingering on everyone’s mind is, can he finally make it over that Wild Card hump that’s been dogging him his whole career? Probably not. But the NFC West will certainly be more interesting to watch this season.
Meanwhile in Detroit, What does Jared Goff have to look forward to this season? Not a whole lot if team GM Brad Holmes decides to take a Quarterback in the first round of the draft later this year. The Lions will have the 7th overall pick in this year’s selection. While Holmes fully expects to start Goff this year, he hasn’t completely ruled out a new QB as well. While the chances of this happening are low, Goff’s career could be cut short by Brad Holmes. Given their decision making in coaching selection and selection of talent that can be competitive in their conference, I wouldn’t go buying property in Detroit just yet, buddy.
Since 2017, Goff is second in regular season wins behind Tom Brady. Hopefully, he can continue that streak if management can build a team around him that plays to his strengths. Goff will also have the advantage of a decent offensive line coming back for the 2021 season. But it probably wouldn’t hurt to beef up that front a little bit. The lions have a long, grudging history with their offensive line.
One of the main symptoms that can be attributed to their 30-year absence from the divisional round of the play-offs. If they play their cards right, I can safely predict the Lions could finish 2nd in their division behind the Green Bay Packers and California alumni Aaron Rodgers. The Vikings will continue to struggle to find any kind of rhythm and the bears will shoot themselves in the foot if they even think about starting red-headed step-child Andy Dalton! The Lions will finish somewhere between 9-7 or 8-8 and may not see a play off game until 2022.
Even if Jared Goff doesn’t want to call this team in ‘Rebuilding’ mode, it doesn’t change facts. They got to be patient, trust the process, and pray to God that Aaron Rodgers decided to retire before the off season is over with.