CHICAGO -- There was nothing for Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff to smile about upon entering the news conference room at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Another game. Another loss. Detroit is now 0-4.
“We need to make sure we don’t go numb to it,” Goff said following Sunday's 24-14 defeat in Chicago. “Keep that hope. Keep that faith that we’ve had. It’s hard. Going forward, we’ve lost some tough ones. We’ve shown some fight, we’ve shown some good things, but ultimately it hasn’t been close to good enough yet.”
There are no more excuses, though.
The Lions have produced sustained periods of good football in each of their four losses. Maintaining that level for a full game has been the issue.
“I think you just get to the point where there’s no longer like, ‘Oh, we did these things good.’ You get to the point where it’s like ‘Well, we still lost’ and you’re not happy about it,” said Goff, who amassed 210 of his 299 passing yards in the second half against the Bears.
“Yeah, maybe a pissed-off team will execute a little bit better and that’s me included,” he added. “How can we be better next week. Maybe being pissed off will be the answer.”
The theme of Sunday's loss was Detroit’s inability to convert in the red zone.
The Lions failed to score on four different drives that reached the red zone, which is tied for the most by any team in a game since 2000 and set a franchise mark for a single game.
“We need work,” coach Dan Campbell said. “If we’ve got to do three days of that this week, that’s all we’ll do.”
It all started with a failed first-quarter snap between Goff and his center, Frank Ragnow, which resulted in a bizarre turnover on first-and-goal at the Chicago 8-yard line.
Goff was trying to communicate with teammates at the line when the ball was snapped and ricocheted off his shoulder, only to bounce directly into the hands of Bears defensive lineman Bilal Nichols. The Bears marched down and scored on the ensuing possession to take a 14-0 lead.
From there on, it was a snowball effect, with Goff fumbling on a strip-sack play by linebacker Robert Quinn two series later. It was mistake after mistake for the Lions, who are one of two winless teams remaining in the NFL. And to compound their problems, they lost Ragnow (toe) and outside linebacker Romeo Okwara to an apparent Achilles injury.
Although the schedule doesn’t lighten up for Detroit -- with games against the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams in the next three weeks -- Goff is steadfast in his belief that the Lions are close to a breakthrough.
“We’re on our way,” Goff said. “I know it’s kind been a [broken] record player for me every week, but trust me when I say that we’re on our way and I believe in these guys.”