“These guys were giving us a lot of checkdowns,” Goff said. “They really were.”
Trailing 29-28, Goff moved the Lions from their 30 to the Vikings 22. Three kneel-downs later, Jake Bates kicked a 44-yard winning field goal. Absorbing an early deficit. Triggering the comeback. Managing the game-winning drive. All on the road in front of an announced crowd of 66,971. Those few thousand Lions fans in attendance did not keep it from being a hostile environment.
It’s what you need from a leader.
When Goff arrived in Detroit via the Matthew Stafford trade, it appeared as if he was being banished to the Motor City as the Rams went on to win the 2021 Super Bowl. Goff moved on to preside over the resurrection of the Kitties. Sunday’s win was their fourth straight, and they knocked off the last undefeated team in the conference. The Lions are the real deal now, and Goff might get his shot at a title.
After linebacker Ivan Pace scooped and scored off a David Montgomery fumble in the fourth quarter, Darnold’s two-point conversion pass to Jordan Addison fell incomplete. With less than three minutes remaining, he sailed a third-down pass to Justin Jefferson that would have kept the drive alive to run down the clock more, or even score.
