It’s not the same ol’ Detroit Lions anymore. After decades mired in futility, the Lions made the playoffs this past season for the first time since 2016, and behind quarterback Jared Goff, they have one of the most talented young rosters in the league. Despite the good vibes throughout most of the Motor City, Goff says the local media needs to chill with the negativity.
“I have this like, I probably need to drop it pretty soon here because I'm hopefully gonna be in Detroit for a long time, but I have this thing with our local media where like they almost like relish in negativity at times,” the starting QB said Willbo Trading Cards podcast. “And maybe that's what gets clicked and that's what sells, but it's no longer what they need to live in. Like, ‘Hey guys, we have a good team. We've had success. We can be happy about that we can celebrate that and not have to write about how we're constantly the underdog.’ No, teams are gonna be gunning for us now. We won the division and all that.”
Goff then walked it back slightly by admitting, “I'm probably overthinking it in my head and it's the chip on my shoulder and the competitor in me.”
Whether Goff is making more of the Detroit media’s negativity or not, you can see both sides from the outside looking in.
Are the Lions still the same franchise they’ve been for decades?
On one hand, the team went 12-5 this season and won its division for the first time since 1993. They also have budding stars like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, and Aidan Hutchinson — just to name a few — who are all 24 and under.
They have an excellent, inspiring coach in Dan Campbell who gets the most out of his talent. Couple all that with Jared Goff, who’s become a reliable quarterback, if not the most dynamic, and an offensive play-caller in Ben Johnson who turned down head coaching jobs this offseason to finish what he started in Detroit, and you have the foundation for an awesome future.
On the other hand, most of the Detroit media has surely been covering, or at least following, the Lions for a long time. That means they know that even when the team has legends like Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, or Matthew Stafford, the Lions find a way to Lion every time.
After the Lions won a (pre-Super Bowl) NFL championship in 1957, they didn’t make the playoffs again until 1970 and then after that until 1982. And while they had a nice streak of six playoff appearances in the 1990s, they’ve gone 143-242-2 since 2000 with just three playoff appearances before this latest one.
The Lions have been one of the worst franchises in NFL history, and the media knows this. So, while the current squad is awe-inspiring, it is understandable that the reporters covering the team aren’t banging the drum for a Super Bowl title just yet. Goff and company have to do it again next season if they want to turn that sentiment around.
Follow Us
Subscribe