Everything Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff Said After Win Over Bears

Here is everything Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff said after his team defeated the Chicago Bears, 19-16, in the regular season finale.

On getting a win in that environment to close the season:

“Week felt good. Felt good to finish it that way and thought we played well in all phases. I thought we left some points out there offensively certainly in the red zone, but defense played really well and gave us a couple more chances there. Yeah, made it happen.”

On their efficiency in the first half:

"We were mixing it up pretty good. Thought the playcalling was really good and the run game was working, the play-action, the drop back. Our time of possession was really good. We were holding onto the ball, converting on third down, all the stuff that's typically indicative of a good offense. We were doing that in the first half and just wish we could have punched in those red zone ones.”

On getting the ball to his skill players:

“Certainly, there at the end to get it to (WR Amon-Ra) St. Brown to close it out felt really good. Yeah, got a lot of really good skill players, and being able to get them out in space was nice.”

On St. Brown coming into games banged up:

“We're kind of used to it, and probably taken it for granted a little bit. He doesn't complain. He doesn't say a word about it. He shows up to practice. It's 10 degrees out there. You guys were out there. He's practicing hard and doing everything right. You would never know either way, which just speaks to how special he is as a human.”

What is value of a win in a game that does not have implications for the playoffs?

"Other than feeling good right now? I think it is nice to finish on a high note. I don't know if there is a reality of that carrying into April. I hope there is. I think it's different circumstances than in 2022, when we were kind of on that long run, trying to make the playoffs and just missed it by a game. This year, we had higher expectations. So, you come up short. It's like okay, that win did carry over. And I do hope this win does carry into April and so on and so forth. You don't know. Time will tell. We got the right guys in the locker room. They are about the right stuff and I think to answer it, it feels good to kind of get back to who we are and see it in live speed, reality, and see it happen."

Is this win more significant than 2022 season-ending win?

"I don't know. I think the significance is we came out, we knew we had no shot. Practiced hard this week, showed up and played well today. That speaks to the character of our guys. That is the significance of it, I guess. I could give you a better answer, if I had time to think about it. But yea, there is significance there. Again, we got guys that are about the right stuff. The nucleus of this team that wil be back in April, trying to make another run next year is going to be back. And those guys showed up today, which is cool."

What are you going to take from this season?

"Just how slim the margin is. Obviously, if one game wins, do we get into the playoffs? I would imagine 10 wins is probably good enough. The margin is so razor thin in our league, and you can't have off weeks. You can't have weeks where you don't show up where you want to. I think that will be something that will stick with me forever. Because I do believe this is a good team, with a really talented group. And some weeks, we did not show up like we want to. And for whatever reason, the margin is just that thin. To be on the right side of that margin, you get 11 wins. To be on the wrong side of it, we're at nine (wins). I think that is the main takeaway from me."

On if old friends on the other sideline gave any extra juice:

"No, I don't think so. I really don't. I think he's a great coach. He's doing great things. I have really good memories obviously with him. They've got the playoffs to look forward to and we don't. We were just trying to get a W. I think it was more so just in division, you want to win that one. It's less about who it is over there.”

On his offensive line:

“They played great today. They really did. They played really well. All those guys played well. (OL Christopher) Hubbard I thought stepped up in a huge way; right tackle. They were leaning on -- the run game was really good. We were opening up for those guys. Downhil,l you could see the line of scrimmage moving and the pass protection was really good as well. They had a really good day today and I was proud of those guys.”

On any advice for RB David Montgomery for the sack he took:

“Throw it away. Yeah, no, it's always hard for those skill guys to be able to think like they're throwing it and they got to throw it away. Wish he threw it away, but whatever. I wish he would've given me a jump ball opportunity just down the field.”