National Football League

Lions might be NFL's hottest team, and Jared Goff one of its best stories

Updated Dec. 21, 2022 4:13 p.m. ET

There is a long list of things Jared Goff might easily have become instead of what he is right now: the fired-up and on-fire quarterback for arguably the NFL's hottest team.

Yes, that's a lot of heat, fire and temperature references, but there is no other way to describe what is happening with Goff and the Detroit Lions, as pro football's most remarkable plot twist continues apace.

We didn't see it coming, because, well, history has schooled us to assume a certain level of seasonal ineptitude from the Lions. It is just as noteworthy because of how the NFL world had come to see Goff, a former No. 1 pick, yet not long ago poised to become something drastically removed from an elite quarterback.

Goff might have become a backup somewhere, for that's the kind of general path he was on when he was shipped out of Los Angeles along with picks in exchange for Matthew Stafford, a switch that ultimately steered the Rams on a Super Bowl-winning journey.

He might have become a journeyman, bouncing around the league in search of one of those handful of landing spots where below-average QB play is acceptable because the franchise is on a downward skid anyway.

He might, had his mind leaned toward it, sulked and pouted and bad-attituded his way out of the NFL altogether, behind a waiting-to-happen narrative that he'd had enough chances to get things right and was never going to amount to much.

Instead, none of that happened.

Instead, even at 1-6 following a season of 3-13-1 and with hope dwindling, Goff steeled himself, believed that what everyone on the outside thought didn't mesh with what he saw within, found trust in himself and his colleagues — and became the arm and the mind behind an incredible tear through the winter months.

He has become, across a seven-game sample size that has yielded six wins and forced the Lions into strong playoff contention, a man for good times and bad, a clutch performer and a voice of leadership, an architect of both nuanced playmaking and old-fashioned, simple, just-make-the-damn-throw fortitude.

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He has made the most of his assets; a strong offensive line, two talented rushers to hand it to and a sure-handed receiver to toss it at, in Amon-Ra St. Brown. On the other side, a rugged defense is keeping Detroit in close games, and they're finally winning them.

"It's a good, mature team now," Goff told reporters. "We are starting to believe …. not starting to, we fully believe in each other. You just know somebody going to make a play to do something right, and that's half the battle, and that's showing off for us a lot right now."

Goff's steadiness has probably saved Dan Campbell's job, and we can be thankful for that, for Campbell is nothing short of being one of the most enjoyable head coaches to have around, a guy who's not afraid to be likeably weird and resolutely supportive of his players.

And now, with the Carolina Panthers up next Saturday (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), Goff is presented with an opportunity to take his team's record, currently 7-7, into positive credit and make those postseason dreams a serious likelihood.

"The Lions feel like a playoff team," FS1's Colin Cowherd said, on "The Herd." "The Lions can win a shootout; a low-scoring, ugly game. Detroit is now playing much better defense. Goff, when he's got a clean pocket … I feel Detroit."

So, why now, Jared Goff? As in, why has he become the Jared Goff worth trading up to No. 1 for, the Jared Goff worth paying $134 million guaranteed for, not the Jared Goff of 2019 and 2020 and 2021?

Maybe he has gotten better, more experienced and sharper. Maybe he has just found the right spot, or maybe he found a sense of freedom once all the expectations, even the low-end ones, melted away.

Goff experienced the thrill of walking up on stage before any other player of his 2016 draft class. He played in a Super Bowl at the end of his third season.

But there might have been no better feeling for him than this, this mighty run and the unbridled joy of last weekend, when he found Brock Wright for a 51-yard game-winner to sink the New York Jets and keep the momentum going.

"It's a lot of fun," Goff said.

For the longest time, it was assumed Goff wouldn't be with the Lions next season. They have a neat little cluster of draft picks and going for one of the bigger-name college QBs was the preferred option, until recently.

Now, however, a far more sensible choice would seem to be for Detroit to use Goff as one of the anchors speared toward building a team for the future.

With each passing week, though, the Lions are increasingly looking like a team for right now.

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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.