Rams vs. Lions Wild Card Game Personal For Amon-Ra St. Brown
The Los Angeles Rams ended a surprising 10-7 season with a playoff appearance and a Wild Card matchup against the NFC Central-winning Detroit Lions on Sunday.
This is a game not devoid of dramatic storylines, and one of the biggest is the one involving Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Rams signal caller Matthew Stafford.
The two quarterbacks were traded for each other just three years ago, and Stafford went on to win it all with the Rams.
Goff was the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 by the Rams and played five seasons in Los Angeles and registered one Super Bowl loss in 2018. Stafford was the No. 1 overall pick in 2009 and played under center for the Lions for 12 seasons.
Goff's teammate, former University of California widout Amon-Ra St. Brown feels like Goff is partially responsible for his success in the NFL.
“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.”
Goff has played in six playoff games during his time in the league, and St. Brown thinks that's an advantage in the postseason.
“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.”
The Goff-Stafford storyline also gives this game a little bit of personal flavor for the wideout.
“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.
