The Detroit Lions wrapped up their regular season schedule this afternoon by taking down their division rival Green Bay Packers at Ford Field, finishing 3-13-1 in a campaign that began with monumental changes within the organization both on the field and front office.
For quarterback Jared Goff, who was acquired nearly a year ago in exchange for Matthew Stafford, he led his team on a 75-yard game-winning drive in the 4th quarter, the second such occasion he's done so this season.
“If they aren’t, then yeah you can pull back a little bit, but it’s fun,” he said of resorting to trick plays. “Dan is that type of guy. He’s very aggressive, we all know that. If we were playing with a lead, I would imagine we wouldn’t have called either of those plays, but the way the game was going, they were in a perfect situation, and last game of the season and let it all go.”
Of course, this was Goff's first season in the Motor City playing in front of the fan base who cheered for Stafford for over a decade. While Goff did certainly earn his share of the wrath of fans earlier in the year, he heard plenty of cheers from the same fans as the season progressed.
“They're passionate, really passionate,” Goff said of the fans. “You saw it today…..it means a lot to us. We can hear it, we can feel it and feed off it, and hopefully we'll give them something to look forward to next year.”
For Goff and the Lions, it was important to finish the season on a high note.
“I think it's the way the end of the season. Our first half of the season was not great, the 2nd was better, and the last four or five games were really good. We feel that energy and that's how you want to finish it. Today, that's how you draw it up. Score a lot of points, win the game…it's important.”
– – Quotes via Detroit Lions Link – –