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Jared Goff is Over the Rams Storyline Ahead of Another Battle With Matthew Stafford
The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams are set to square off in a Sunday showcase that will go a long way in deciding the NFC playoff bracket. Matthew Stafford has his team in position to get the No. 1 seed and Jared Goff needs a win to improve his team's chances of making the playoffs.
Perhaps you've heard this before but those two quarterbacks were traded for each other in 2021 in a deal that has worked out tremendously for both sides. Stafford led the Rams to a victory in Super Bowl LVI and Goff has spearheaded a long-awaited renaissance in the Motor City, one that includes a victory over his former team in the 2023 postseason.
Predictably, media tried to get a fresh new take on a classic storyline during Goff's availability on Wednesday but Goff sounds completely over it.
“It feels like a long time ago,” Goff said when presented another opportunity to reflect. “My career now has spent more time here.”
“We played them in that playoff game it was such a big deal, the next year it felt like even less, now it’s even further removed,” he added.
As similar questions persisted, Goff was a bit surprised the book hadn't been closed.
"We're still talking about this? All right, go ahead."
If Goff wants to know how long a throughline like this can persist, he can simply ask Stafford how many times it's been mentioned that he was a high school teammate of Clayton Kershaw. And rest assured the trade and subsequent fate will be hammered during the broadcast on Sunday.
And there's a chance this won't be the only time these two play this year. If Detroit does earn its way into the playoffs its path to the Super Bowl may run through Los Angeles and have Stafford as an obstacle.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.