DETROIT -- The cold Michigan air sent a chill through Jared Goff.
It was March 2021, and the former Los Angeles Rams quarterback had just hopped off a flight from California. Days prior, the Rams and the Detroit Lions completed a trade that sent Goff to Detroit in exchange for longtime Lions QB Matthew Stafford. For historians, the swap marked the first time No. 1 draft picks (Goff in 2016, Stafford in 2009) had been traded for each other in the common draft era.
For Goff, the move represented a chance at redemption. After leading the Rams to a Super Bowl berth in his third season, his star had fallen in L.A. Discord with coach Sean McVay and a sudden penchant for turnovers saw him jettisoned without warning from a perennial contender to a Detroit franchise in the midst of a rebuild.
At the time of Goff's frosty arrival, Detroit represented a sort of football Siberia. The franchise had managed just one postseason victory in the Super Bowl era -- in the 1991 season -- and hadn't witnessed a quarterback win multiple playoff games in a season since the 1950s. But Goff walked off that flight undeterred by history and the daunting road ahead.
"I saw this as an opportunity for me to build my own legacy, and being at the ground floor of something special -- and something that we can hopefully build to [be] even more special than right now," Goff said in January.
In three years, Goff has done exactly that. Last season, he joined Tobin Rote (1957) and Bobby Layne (1953, 1952) as the only quarterbacks in Lions history to win more than one postseason game in a season, and came one win shy of helping the franchise secure its first Super Bowl berth. On the way, the Lions beat the Rams -- and Stafford -- in a raucous wild-card game at Ford Field for the organization's first playoff victory in more than 30 years.
Now, as the Lions prepare to host Stafford and the Rams again on Sunday night (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), Goff, who was rewarded with a four-year, $212 million extension this offseason, enters the game as a player he and the Lions believe can lead Detroit to a Super Bowl in 2024.
"Where he's able to go, our offense is able to go. So, we ask him to do a lot," coach Dan Campbell said, "and we're going to ask him to do a little bit more than he did last year because he can handle it. He's proven that. He's playing at a high level, and he also knows he doesn't have to do this all on his own."
Here is a closer look at Goff's three-year rise in Detroit.
The trade
March 17, 2021: The Lions complete a trade that sends Stafford -- the franchise's all-time passing leader -- to the Rams for Goff and three draft picks, including two first-rounders, in a blockbuster deal. The deal, which was reported in January but couldn't be made official until March, was the first major move by Lions general manager Brad Holmes, who had been hired from the Rams weeks before making the deal. Goff spent five seasons in L.A., amassing a record of 42-27. He flourished with the arrival of McVay ahead of the 2017 season, winning back-to-back division titles and reaching a Super Bowl in their first two years together. However, their relationship deteriorated the following two seasons and Goff's play declined; he ranked second in the NFL with 38 turnovers over that span. Goff later said the move to Detroit offered him a shot at redemption that he was eager to embrace. "I just put my head down and went to work," Goff told ESPN in 2023. "I knew it wouldn't be easy, I knew we had some things we had to clean up here, being the first year of a new staff which is never easy, but I was excited for the challenge."
2021 season
Oct. 17: The Lions become the NFL's last winless team after a 34-11 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Amid light boos from the Ford Field crowd, the offense was held scoreless for three quarters, with Goff passing for just 38 yards in the first half before finishing the game with 202 yards and an interception. The loss marked Detroit's first 0-6 start since 2008, when the team finished 0-16. After the game, Campbell publicly challenged Goff to improve. "I will say this," Campbell said. "I feel like he has to step up more than he has, and I think he needs to help us, just like everybody else. He's gonna need to put a little bit of weight on his shoulders here and it's time to step up, make some throws and do some things, but he needs help."
Oct. 24: The Lions lose at the Rams 28-19 in Goff's first game against his former team since the trade. In the lead up, Goff said he couldn't hide how he felt about how the deal unfolded, revealing nothing was communicated to him prior. "There was some disrespect felt towards the end, there was some sourness there towards the end and you still feel that, you still have that chip on your shoulder," Goff said. Goff passed for 268 yards and two interceptions to Stafford's 334 yards and three touchdowns, leaving the Lions 0-7 on the season and Goff still looking for his first win in Detroit.
Dec. 5: Goff earns his first win with the Lions in dramatic fashion, delivering an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown as time expires to defeat the Minnesota Vikings 29-27. Goff finished the day 25 of 41 for 296 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He sealed the win with a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the final 1:50. Immediately after the victory, Goff rushed over to Campbell -- who yelled and leaped in the air with joy -- to give him a big hug. "For him to be able to rally back and drive us all the way down and then make the game-winning throw and just step in there, stay in the pocket, and make some things happen when we needed it most, I think says a lot about him," Campbell said. "I was proud of him."
Jan. 10: The Lions fire offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn a day after the season ends. Campbell, whose team capped a 3-13-1 season with a 37-30 victory over the Green Bay Packers the previous day, had stripped Lynn of playcalling duties before the Lions' Week 10 game against the Steelers. So the move came as no surprise. Campbell said Lynn's role on the Detroit staff "just wasn't a fit" and that the Lions' offense never found a rhythm with him at the helm. Lynn lasted just one season with the team. Overall, Goff had a disappointing 2021, posting the 24th-lowest QBR in the league (45.5) while throwing for 3,245 with 19 touchdowns to eight interceptions.
Feb. 9: The Lions promote tight ends coach Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator. Johnson earned the position after accepting a bigger role in directing Detroit's offense after Lynn was demoted following the bye week. Johnson joined the Lions organization as an offensive quality control coach in 2019, before being promoted to tight ends coach in 2020. Johnson and Goff's partnership would become a driving force for an eventual Lions turnaround.
Feb. 13: Cheered on by many Lions fans who'd purchased "Detroit Rams" shirts ahead of the game, Stafford leads the Rams to a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, capping a storybook first season in Los Angeles.
2022 season
Oct. 31-Nov. 1: In the midst of a five-game losing streak, the Lions dismiss defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant and trade Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson -- one of Goff's top weapons -- to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick. "We're still in the build phase," Holmes said when explaining the deal. "So, I mean, with the capital that we received back from the compensation standpoint, I just think it made a lot of sense for us to continue on this build."
Dec. 7: Following the personnel shakeup, Goff and the Lions get hot, winning four of their next five games punctuated by a 40-10 victory over the playoff-bound Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 4. With the Lions' record at 5-7, Goff delivers a bold claim three days later, saying he's playing the best football of his career -- even better than 2018, when he led the Rams to the Super Bowl. "I've played a lot of good football in my career, but I feel as comfortable as I've ever felt," Goff said. "I'm getting older, I'm understanding the game more and it's just everything coming together a little bit."
Jan. 8, 2023: Detroit ends its 2022 season with a statement win over the Packers at Lambeau Field. The 20-16 triumph denied Green Bay a playoff berth in what would be quarterback Aaron Rodgers' final game with the team. After beginning the season 1-6, Goff helped guide the Lions to eight victories over their last 10 games, spearheading a top-five offense in the process. Goff ended the season with the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL (4-to-1) and was at his best down the stretch, throwing for 17 TDs to just one pick over the final 10 games, which was better than Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Tom Brady and Rodgers over that span. He also set a franchise mark for the most consecutive passes without an interception (324) and finished with the NFL's fifth-best total QBR (61.1). The Lions finished 9-8 -- their first winning season since 2017.
2023 offseason
June 6: Campbell offers public praise for Goff, telling reporters he is "a better quarterback" in Detroit than he was in Los Angeles. Speaking during a mandatory minicamp session, Campbell lauded Goff's maturation in Detroit ahead of his third season with the team. "He hung in there, and I think what you're seeing is a guy who just put his head down and worked on what he could, tried to improve on what he could, and now his confidence is really, it has grown, and along the way, he's matured as a quarterback," Campbell said. "He's a better quarterback than he was there, in my opinion, because he can do more things. He's mentally on it."
2023 season
Dec. 24: Detroit clinches its first division title since 1993 with a 30-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings, ending the NFL's second-longest active drought without a division title. Goff, born in 1994, wasn't alive the last time the Lions had won a division crown. He passed for 257 yards and a touchdown in the game. "It's cool. It really is cool," Goff said of the feat. "Being able to really reflect on it like we did something that [hadn't been done by] team after team after team for 30 years. This 2023 team did it and broke that streak and we will guarantee a home playoff game. But, yeah, we've got some work to do next week and the following and see where we go."
Jan. 14, 2024: With chants of "Ja-Red GOFF!" ringing throughout a raucous Ford Field, Goff and the Lions beat Stafford's Rams 24-23 in the NFC wild-card round, delivering the Lions their first playoff win since the 1991 season. The game marked Stafford's first career road game in Detroit. Goff finished the night completing 81% of his 27 pass attempts for 277 yards and a touchdown. Stafford finished 25 of 36 for 367 yards and two TDs. Inside the locker room, a fired-up Campbell tossed Goff the game ball. "You're good enough for f---ing Detroit, Jared Goff," he told his triumphant QB.
Jan. 28, 2024: Playing in the franchise's first NFC title game since 1991, the Lions fall 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers in a game in which they held a 17-point lead at halftime. Goff finished 25 of 41 for 273 yards and a touchdown. "What are my emotions? It sucks," Goff said. "Pretty devastated. There's a state of shock a little bit. I just, again am proud to be a part of this team, and it's hard to juggle those two emotions of being proud of what we've done this year and dealing with the heartache of the loss."
2024 offseason
May 16, 2024: The Lions reward Goff with a contract extension worth $212 million over four years that includes $170 million guaranteed. The deal made Goff, who will be 34 when it expires in 2028, the highest-paid player in franchise history, and it came weeks after the Lions extended two other foundational players in St. Brown (four years, $120.01 million) and offensive tackle Penei Sewell (four years, $112 million). "It's a good chapter closing of the last three years if you want to say," Goff said after the deal was announced. "Now, I'm more driven and more fired up than ever to go even harder and put the pedal to the medal even more to bring a Super Bowl to the city and that's what's most important."