Jared Goff gets his revenge in Lions’ playoff win over Rams
DETROIT — Jared Goff got his revenge.
And it ended the Rams’ season.
Jettisoned by the Rams three years ago in a trade for Matthew Stafford, Goff on Sunday night played turnover free and led the Lions to a historic 24-23 victory in an NFC wild-card game before 66,367 delirious fans at Ford Field.
Goff, the top pick by the Rams in the 2016 NFL draft, had said this week that he and Rams coach Sean McVay were “good,” despite McVay’s handling of the trade.
But Goff had to relish winning the Lions’ first home playoff game in 32 years with a victory over the team that cast him aside.
Goff completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown.
Rams run out of time as Detroit prevails in playoffs for first time since the 1991 season
🏈 Lions 24, Rams 23 — FINAL
Getting the ball back with a little more than four minutes left, Jared Goff found David Montgomery on an 11-yard catch-and-run for a first down that took the game down to the two-minute warning.
Goff then completed an 11-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown coming out of the two-minute warning to seal Detroit’s first playoff victory since the 1991 season.
Rams forced to punt after drive sputters at midfield
🏈 Lions 24, Rams 23 — 4:07 left in the fourth quarter
Matthew Stafford failed to connect with Puka Nacua on third-and-14, leading to a Rams punt following a six-play, 48-yard drive. The Lions will take over at their 14.
A holding penalty by Rob Havenstein pushed them out of potential field-goal range.
Earlier in the drive, Nacua shook off a tackle attempt by Lions safety Kerby Joseph for a 35-yard catch that gave him the most receiving yards by a rookie in an NFL playoff game. Nacua has 181 receiving yards on nine catches.
Rams tight end Tyler Higbee limped off after taking a brutal hit at the knee.
The Rams have just one timeout left.
Rams make it a one-point game on another Brett Maher field goal
🏈 Lions 24, Rams 23 — 8:10 left in the fourth quarter
Brett Maher kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it a one-point game after another Rams drive fizzled in the red zone.
With the Ford Field crowd roaring, the Rams used their second timeout of the half on a third down, but at least managed to follow with drive-sustaining, nine-yard pass to Puka Nacua. Stafford then threw a laser between four Detroit defenders to find a leaping Nacua for a 22-yard pass.
But Stafford couldn’t connect with Cooper Kupp in the end zone on third down, ending the 13-play, 79-yard drive.
The Rams’ running game has struggled to gain traction, and Kyren Williams is questionable to return because of a hand injury.
Matthew Stafford returns to game after taking big hit
🏈 Lions 24, Rams 20 — 14:30 left in the fourth quarter
Brett Maher kicked a 27-yard field goal to cut into the Detroit Lions’ lead, but Matthew Stafford went into the sideline medical tent after getting hit hard by Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill on third down.
However, after spending a short time being evaluated by team medical staff and the independent neurological consultant, Stafford emerged from the tent and re-entered the game on the Rams’ next possession.
Stafford was initially clutching his side after getting hit following a four-yard pass to Cooper Kupp on third down. Stafford’s head also hit the turf hard on the hit. He managed to get off the field under his own power.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua also made a visit to the sideline medical tent but returned to the field with Stafford. Nacua also took a big hit on the previous Rams possession and was evaluated for a potential head injury.
Maher’s field goal capped a 10-play, 66-yard drive for the Rams.
Lions extend lead on Michael Badgley’s 54-yard field goal
🏈 Lions 24, Rams 17 — 8:41 left in the third quarter
Michael Badgley kicked a 54-yard field goal to extend the lead for the Lions early in the fourth quarter.
Rams linebacker Ernest Jones sacked Detroit quarterback Jared Goff to set up a third-and-21, but Goff managed to complete a four-yard pass to Sam LaPorta to set up the field-goal attempt.
Goff completed a 30-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown to create the scoring opportunity.
The Rams punted for the first time after their opening possession of the second half. Matthew Stafford failed to find a wide-open Cooper Kupp and the Rams also burned through a timeout.
Rams trail Detroit Lions 21-17 at halftime
🏈 Lions 21, Rams 17 — HALFTIME
The game has so far lived up to all the hype.
Jared Goff, jettisoned from the Rams in 2021 in a trade that sent him to the Lions for Matthew Stafford, led the Lions on three scoring drives, including one that ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta.
Goff has completed 16 of 18 passes for 191 yards.
Stafford, returning to Detroit for the first time since the trade, has been equally sharp, despite playing much of the second quarter with an injured right hand. Stafford connected on long scoring plays with receivers Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell.
Stafford has completed 12 of 16 passes for 196 yards.
Nacua has five receptions for 106 yards.
Matthew Stafford passes for another TD despite banged-up throwing hand
🏈 Lions 21, Rams 17 — 4:02 left in the second quarter
Matthew Stafford is playing with an injured right hand. But it is not slowing him down in his return to Detroit.
Stafford connected with Tutu Atwell for a 38-yard touchdown, his second scoring pass of the game since sustaining a hit to his right hand.
Stafford has completed 11 of 15 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
Stafford had key completions to Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp during the 75-yard, six-play drive.
Jared Goff connects on fourth-down TD pass to extend Lions’ lead
🏈 Lions 21, Rams 10 — 7:12 left in the second quarter
Jared Goff connected with tight end Sam LaPorta on fourth-and-one from the two-yard line for a touchdown.
Goff also had key completions to Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs during the 75-yard scoring drive.
Goff has completed 14 of 15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown.
LaPorta, who was questionable entering the game because of a knee injury, has two receptions for 10 yards.
Puka Nacua’s 50-yard TD catch cuts into Lions’ lead
🏈 Lions 14, Rams 10 — 13:24 left in the second quarter
Matthew Stafford silenced the Ford Field crowd with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Puka Nacua.
The Rams drove 72 yards in six plays.
Stafford’s 19-yard completion to Demarcus Robinson on a third-and-15 play helped set up the long pass to Nacua.
Stafford has completed seven of 10 passes for 119 yards.
Nacua has four catches for 85 yards.
Lions extend their lead on Jahmyr Gibbs TD run
🏈 Lions 14, Rams 3 — 1:31 left in the first quarter
Jahmyr Gibbs ran for a 10-yard touchdown to extend the Lions’ lead and keep the crowd going crazy.
The Lions drove 75 yards, with former Rams receiver Josh Reynolds doing most of the damage.
Reynolds caught a 33-yard pass from Jared Goff to set up the touchdown run.
Goff has completed all nine of his passes for 111 yards.
Reynolds has four catches for 75 yards.
Rams settle for field goal after drive sputters in red zone
🏈 Lions 7, Rams 3 — 4:26 left in the first quarter
The Rams drove to the Lions’ six-yard line, but two Matthew Stafford passes fell incomplete and another was broken up by linebacker Brian Branch, forcing the Rams to settle for a Brett Maher’s 24-yard field goal.
Amid deafening crowd noise, Stafford completed four of seven passes for 40 yards, including one to Puka Nacua for 21 yards.
The Rams got the benefit of pass interference and personal foul penalties but could not take full advantage.
Lions score on their first possession to take early lead
🏈 Lions 7, Rams 0 — 9:30 left in the first quarter
The Lions did not waste any time keeping a wild crowd pumped up.
Jared Goff directed a 75-yard drive on the first possession with running back David Montgomery scoring on a one-yard run.
Goff completed five of five passes for 51 yards. Former Rams receiver Josh Reynold caught two passes for 32 yards, including one for 24 yards.
Montgomery rushed for 24 yards in five carries.
Rams know what they’re up against in Detroit, loud and clear
The Rams are in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven seasons under coach Sean McVay, who has led them to two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl title.
But the Rams have never played their first playoff game on the road before a hostile, borderline maniacal crowd.
That will change Sunday night when the sixth-seeded Rams play the third-seeded Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
Lions fans have been waiting 30 years for an opportunity to cheer their team and to unnerve a playoff opponent on the Lions’ home turf.
The Matthew Stafford effect: From Calvin Johnson to Puka Nacua, QB makes receivers great
It’s no coincidence.
In 2012, Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions established an NFL record for yards receiving in a season.
It’s not unexplainable luck.
In 2021, Cooper Kupp of the Rams achieved the so-called triple crown of receiving by leading the NFL in catches, yards receiving and touchdown catches.
It’s becoming a trend.
This season Rams receiver Puka Nacua established NFL rookie records for catches and yards receiving.
‘The Spirit of Detroit’ transformed Matthew Stafford into an idol in the Motor City
Matthew Stafford returning to Detroit to play against the Lions in an NFC wild-card playoff game on Sunday is a big deal for the city.
DETROIT — Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has spent his career lighting up scoreboards, but this one was more meaningful than most.
It is beside a football field that bears his name at a community center in one of the poorest parts of the city. When he was playing for the Detroit Lions, Stafford and his wife, Kelly, made substantial donations to the SAY Detroit Play Center, featuring an artificial-turf field with their foundation logo in the middle.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Stafford threw the switch to bring that scoreboard to life. It was a somewhat rare public appearance for the Staffords in terms of philanthropy. Often, their work took place behind the scenes and with little fanfare, including their tradition of choosing families in need over the Christmas holidays, providing them with all of their gifts and stopping by to spend the day with them.
Rams vs. Lions inactives: Sam LaPorta active for Detroit
Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta is active for the wild-card playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night, a week after a left knee injury put his status in doubt.
Rams safety Jordan Fuller, the team’s second-leading tackler, was ruled out after being listed as questionable with an ankle injury.
Los Angeles did have tight end Tyler Higbee and right guard Kevin Dotson in the lineup after both were questionable with injuries.
The Lions previously ruled out punt returner and receiver Kalif Raymond, who left last week’s win over Minnesota with a knee injury. Banged-up tight end James Mitchell and reserve cornerback Jerry Jacobs were also inactive, and placed on injured reserve.
Detroit signed cornerback Chase Lucas and tight end Anthony Firsker to add depth, and elevated fullback Jason Cabinda and defensive lineman Tyson Alualu from the practice squad.
The Rams bolstered their roster by activating defensive back Duke Shelley and elevating linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi from their practice squad.
RAMS
RB Zach Evans
WR Tyler Johnson
OL Warren McClendon Jr.
OLB Ochaun Mathis
LB Troy Reeder
S Jordan Fuller
LIONS
QB Hendon Hooker
WR Kalif Raymond
DL Brodric Martin
DL Charles Harris
LB Julian Okwara
CB Steven Gilmore
S Tracy Walker
Rams’ kicking, punt coverage woes become matter of survival in Lions’ den
The offense is a top-10 unit with a Pro Bowl quarterback at the controls. The defense, anchored by a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, is a solid if not elite group.
Rams special teams?
As the Rams prepare for their NFC wild-card game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, kicking and punt coverage loom as areas for concern.
The Rams finished 10-7 this season despite erratic performances by special teams units.
Rams kickers Brett Maher and Lucas Havrisik made only 74.4% of their field-goal attempts, which ranked 30th among 32 teams. They made 86.5% of their extra-point attempts, which ranked 31st.
Rams’ Aaron Donald vs. Lions’ Jared Goff: ‘You know some things’
Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not chase or hit Jared Goff until Sunday night, when the Rams play the Detroit Lions in an NFC wild-card game at Ford Field.
But Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, already sent his former Rams teammate a message.
Donald said Thursday that he texted Goff this week.
“I just told him I was proud of him,” Donald said, “You know, obviously, with what they’ve been accomplishing and what he’s been doing.
“I said I’d see him Sunday night. He said, ‘I appreciate you, brother. I’ll see you Sunday night. It’s going to be fun.’ ”
For Jared Goff, Rams-Lions game about more than himself
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Jared Goff has his share of picture-perfect memories from his five seasons as quarterback of the Rams.
One of those sits under glass at his office in Los Angeles. It’s a shot from an classic night game at the Coliseum in 2018, the year he helped lead them to the Super Bowl. The photo is of his final touchdown pass in a 54-51 victory over Kansas City and it was taken from the end zone, so the entire scoreboard is in frame behind him.
There was a crackling electricity in the Coliseum that night, the same kind Goff feels for every Detroit Lions home game these days. Hometown fans set a Ford Field noise record this season during a Lions victory over Seattle, the decibel count climbing to 127.5 on a third-down sack of Geno Smith. That’s roughly as loud as standing next to a pummeling jackhammer.
That ear-splitting record will be in jeopardy Sunday when the Lions host a playoff game for the first time in 30 years, one loaded with compelling story lines. The Rams are coming to Detroit, which means quarterback Matthew Stafford will be returning to the city where he played his first 12 seasons, and Goff will be facing the team that traded him away to the Motor City.
Mike Utley’s courage was the inspiration behind the Lions’ last playoff win
Even in a hospital bed, with a horrific spinal-cord injury that would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Mike Utley gave his Detroit Lions teammate a helping hand.
It was in the form of a raised thumb.
That thumbs-up gesture, made by the fallen guard as he was wheeled off the field during a 1991 game against the Rams, became a rallying cry not just for his teammates but the entire city and beyond.
“When it happened certainly it was sobering, it was shocking, it was scary,” longtime Lions executive Bill Keenist said. “But when Mike was about to enter the tunnel, and predictably there were cameras on him, he raised his right thumb. It affected people in the most incredible way.”
Rams-Lions connections: More to this wild-card matchup than Stafford-Goff trade
It’s been more than seven decades since the Rams played the Detroit Lions in the only playoff matchup between the teams.
In 1952 a Rams team featuring stars such as Norm Van Brocklin, Bob Waterfield and Tom Fears lost 31-21 to a Lions team led by Bobby Layne and Doak Walker.
On Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit, the sixth-seeded Rams play the third-seeded Lions in an NFC wild-card game between teams with multiple connections. Some are obvious, others less so.
Lions fans want Matthew Stafford jersey ban at playoff game vs. Rams. Wife calls it sad
Matthew Stafford is a legend in Detroit.
But this week he is back in town as the opposing quarterback during the Lions’ first home playoff game in 30 years, prompting this announcement to appear on Instagram in the days leading up to Detroit’s NFC wild-card game against the Rams:
“JERSEY BAN. Lions Stafford Jerseys will not be permitted into Ford Field on Sunday.”
The announcement was posted by the Detroit Line, identified in its Instagram bio as a lifestyle brand “supporting all things Detroit and more.”
Matthew Stafford prepares to be Ford Field tough: ‘I’m the bad guy coming to town’
Team events. Wardrobe changes for photo shoots. Media days.
Those were the few times Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford can recall being in the visitors’ locker room at Ford Field in Detroit, where he spent his first 12 NFL seasons playing for the Lions.
But Sunday, before an NFC wild-card game, the visitors’ locker room is where Stafford will prepare for his first game in Detroit since he was traded to the Rams in 2021.
Stafford indicated Wednesday that muscle memory would not kick in and lead him to the home locker room.
“I hope I don’t end up in the wrong one,” he quipped. “But I do know it’s the same tunnel — both the home team and visiting team come out of the tunnel.
Rams vs. Lions: How to watch, start time and prediction
Breaking down how the Rams (10-7) and Detroit Lions (12-5) match up heading into their NFC-wild-card playoff game Sunday at 5:15 p.m. The game will be televised by NBC and streamed by Peacock:
When Rams have the ball
Quarterback Matt Stafford returns to Ford Field for the first time since the Rams acquired him in a 2021 trade for Jared Goff and draft picks. Stafford, who led the Rams to a Super Bowl title in 2021, made the Pro Bowl this season after passing for 24 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.