It was not a happy Halloween for the Detroit Lions in 2021 as the Philadelphia Eagles marched into Ford Field and took the Lions’ souls during a 44-6 win.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff remembers that game very well and he admits there is a “bit of extra juice” for Sunday’s Week 1 rematch against the Eagles.
“You remember it,” Goff said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. “We have different teams this year, but certainly we remember they came to our place and laid it on us last year and certainly we owe them one. At the same time, we have to prepare just like any other game and get ready to go and I know we will, but yeah, there may be a little bit of extra juice ready to go for them.”
On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged that “there is a motivation factor in the fact there are enough players here that tasted that last year.”
“And I think what it says is, this team that we’re getting ready to play is capable of embarrassing you. So you better be on it, we better be on our details, we better be ready to go because if not, this team will rub our face in it like they did last year,” Campbell said.
Jared Goff says he and Ben Johnson are collaborating to get on the same page
Goff added that he and new offensive coordinator Ben Johnson have been working together to focus on his strengths.
“Meshing what I’ve done in my past and what I’ve had success with, with stuff that he’s had success with as a coach and finding the perfect balance of that.” The Lions want to run the ball behind a strong offensive line and then air it out with the play-action pass.
“And it’ll be continual as we go through the season,” Goff said of their collaboration. “I’ll give him 10 ideas and he may only use one, and there’s no feelings hurt. He’s the coach and makes those decisions. He also knows that if I come up with an idea, it’s probably something that I’m going to make work. And that’s always what you want to be able to do as a quarterback.”
Nation, what is your expectation for Jared Goff in 2022?