The Detroit Lions moved top of the NFC North with a hard-fought 34-20 win over the Packers last night, led by quarterback Jared Goff, who was in the firing line from some circles before the game.
Goff and the rest of the Lions offense had the last laugh, with the QB throwing 19-28, with 210 yards and a touchdown.
He outplayed his fancied opposite number Jordan Love, who threw for more yards but also for two interceptions.
The Lions move to 3-1 while the Packers sit dead even at 2-2 after their week 4 encounter.
The Lions, in comparison to last season"s horror start, could be in playoff contention, and the form of Goff will be significantly important.
In the lead-up to the game, former quarterback turned NFL analysts Ryan Fitzpatrick was less than complementary towards the Lions line caller saying, “[he"s] a poor man"s Matt Ryan".
In the TNF Night Cap interview Goff had the last laugh.
“I thought I"d played better throughout the rest of the game, I hope it"s up to your standards," said Goff, amid much raucous gasps and laughter back in the studio.
“I didn"t know I was a poor man"s anything but … I heard about that," says the Lions QB, referring to the incident.
Goff was the overall first pick in 2016 and spent five years at the LA Rams, before a successful move to the Detroit team in 2021.
He is a three-time Pro-Bowler and boasts an NFL record of most completions in a regular season game (45), tied with Drew Bledsoe).
Goff has an impressive completion rate of 64.4%, has a passer rating of 93.0 and has thrown for 161 touchdowns against 73 interceptions.
The former California Golden Bears QB led a massive revival at the Lions last season with the team going 1-6 before a sensational turnaround saw them finishing with a 9-8 winning season.
This was the Detroit team"s first winning season since 2017, and despite beating matching the Seahawks 9-9 record for the final play-off spot, they lost out on head-to-head losing to the Seattle team earlier in the campaign.
Goff was outstanding winning the FedEx Air Player of the Week in week 4 and week 11.
