DETROIT -- With the Detroit Lions (1-11-1) officially out of the running for a playoff spot, quarterback Jared Goff shared his vision for the perfect way to end the season.
“Four straight wins. We’re trying to win every game,” Goff said on Monday. “We’ve got Arizona next week and we’ll deal with whoever we’ve got after that, but it’d be tough to stand up here if I didn’t believe in those guys, and I was 'BS'-ing you guys. But I believe in those guys, I believe that we can win games and I believe that we can play with anybody. I believe in our coaches.”
Coming off its first win of the season last week against the Vikings, Detroit couldn't recreate that same magic in a 38-10 loss to the Broncos on Sunday. However, both head coach Dan Campbell and Goff believe that the way they finish this season can carry momentum into 2022, especially with the team holding the best odds to receive the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“Sure, it can. I think at the end of the day, we’re playing for pride and who we are,” Goff said. “I think your character shows in these last four games. You find out a lot about people in times like these, in times of adversity. I believe I know who’s in that locker room, so I don’t believe we’re going to find anything we don’t like, but it does test you.”
Even before kickoff in Denver, the Lions were facing an uphill battle with key playmakers T.J. Hockenson (hand) and D'Andre Swift (shoulder) both ruled out, in addition to six other players who were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this past week.
As a precautionary measure, Lions players didn’t enter the training facility on Monday following the coronavirus outbreak which gutted the roster for the game against the Broncos.
With the 10-3 Arizona Cardinals visiting Motown this weekend (1 p.m. ET on FOX), Campbell's message to the team has been to embrace the spoiler role, regardless of their circumstances.
“We’re not playing for the playoffs, but you’re playing for the game. You’re playing for the love of the game. You’re playing for the name on your back and you’re playing for the guy who is next to you, no different than what I’m doing as a coach,” Campbell said. “I’m competitive and I still want to win. We’ve got a good opponent this week.
“People say they are the best in the NFC, and so this will be a great test for us, no different than what we said we wanted to do two weeks ago. We’re trying to find a way to win a game, and we want to compete and have a chance to win it at the end. Nothing’s changed as far as that’s concerned and I don’t care who we have, we’ll go to war with the guys that we’ve got, and it may be the same guys that you just saw [Sunday], and we’ll have them as prepared as we can get them and go in and see what we can do.”