St. Brown Wants to Beat Rams for Jared Goff
The Detroit Lions are set to play in arguably their biggest game in 30 years this Sunday, when they square off with the L.A. Rams.
The primetime playoff contest pits Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford against one another, two quarterbacks that were traded for each other just three years ago.
Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016, lined up for the Rams for the first five seasons of his career. Meanwhile Stafford, the No. 1 overall selection in 2009, suited up for Detroit for the first 12 years of his career.
Since that blockbuster trade of three winters ago, a lot has changed for each signal-caller. Most notably, Stafford has won a Super Bowl, while Goff – the once maligned passer who had worn out his welcome in Hollywood – has done a complete 180 and resurrected his career.
In fact, since the beginning of the 2022 season, the University of California product has accumulated 59 touchdown passes and 9,013 yards, while completing 66.2 percent of his passes. And, 16 of those touchdowns and nearly a third of those yards (2,676) have been thrown to his No. 1 receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Goff has established a terrific rapport with the third-year pro, who has racked up 1,000-plus receiving yards in back-to-back seasons (1,161 in 2022 and 1,515 in 2023). In turn, the USC product has played a significant part in Goff's career resurgence.
“I feel like maybe last year, my second year (is when the connection felt special),” St. Brown told reporters Thursday. “You know, my rookie year, I didn’t get too many balls thrown toward me the first half of the season. Then, I think he was injured a few games, so he didn’t play. Had a few different quarterbacks that were playing (i.e. Tim Boyle). But, I would say going into my second year, you know, we threw back home in California, and then just going into that second year, we kinda clicked and ever since then, we’ve been firing.”
The Lions, which have the fourth-youngest playoff roster, aren’t equipped with a ton of players that have postseason experience.
Goff, meanwhile, has played in more than a handful of playoff games up to this point (six), including a Super Bowl. It’s an area in which the veteran signal-caller will come in handy versus the Rams.
“To have a guy like that, that’s been to a Super Bowl, been to many playoff games. He knows what it looks like. It’s only going to help us, I feel like,” St. Brown commented. “He knows what to expect. He’s been in this situation before, (so) it’s not going to be too much for him. But, he does a really good job of, honestly, doing that all year. He’s never too high, never too low. He’s super calm throughout games, which, as a quarterback, is super – you need that. I think it’s very important for a quarterback, especially because they’re making big-time decisions out there.”
All throughout this week, Goff – the always consummate professional – has maintained that this weekend's postseason matchup with Los Angeles isn't personal for him. Meanwhile, St. Brown, who's always seeking extra sources of motivation, is more than ready to beat the Rams for his quarterback Sunday.
“Personally, for me, yeah, I definitely do, as a team, we want to win. Obviously, it’s not about Stafford or Jared. It’s about this team and taking it one week at a time,” St. Brown expressed. “But, if you asked me personally, I definitely want to win it for him. But, I know, I mean, he might not tell the media or what. But, I think it’s within every player. You come from a team that – first-round pick, went to the Super Bowl and then gets traded. If you ask anyone, they’re going to feel some type of way.
“For me, I want to go win it for him. It fires me up that he’s playing his old team. I’m excited for him. And, shoot, I want to do it for him as much as I do for the whole team.”
