Jared Goff won’t be on the field at the same time as Matthew Stafford for a single snap of Sunday’s playoff game between the Lions and Rams, but the two quarterbacks will be matched up against each other in other ways.
The Lions traded Stafford to the Rams ahead of the 2021 season for a package that included high draft picks and Goff, who had fallen out of favor with the Rams after helping them advance to Super Bowl LIII after the 2018 season. It was a move that left Goff with a chip on his shoulder at the time and he said on Wednesday that it is still there as he prepares for a visit from his former team.
“Of course,” Goff said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com. “I think it’ll never leave me, and I think that’s a good thing.”
While Goff still feels that chip, he told reporters that any personal feelings stirred up by facing the Rams are secondary to the team’s goals.
“I so badly want to win a playoff game for this city that hasn’t had one in so long,” Goff said. “We’ve got a home playoff game for the first time in so long and that’s so much more important than anything personally for me. I want to be a part of this win and do my job the best of my ability.”
The Rams won a Super Bowl in Stafford’s first season and the Lions are as successful as they’ve been in quite some time, so the trade has led to positives on both sides. That list will get a little longer for one of the two teams this weekend.
