It has not been easy to be a Detroit Lions fan over the years. Quarterback Jared Goff knows that, and he had a message for the fans after leading Detroit to a 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional Round game in Ford Field on Sunday.
“They’re the best.”
Goff began his postgame interview with NBC’s Melissa Stark by crediting the playmaking defense, which picked off Baker Mayfield twice and did just enough to keep the game tight when the Detroit offense was sputtering.
“Our defense stepped up at the end. I thought our defense played a hell of a game all night.”
It bought time for the offense and Goff to produce two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that broke a 17-17 tie and sent Detroit to the NFC Championship game next weekend.
“We played together,” Goff said matter-of-factly. “We played hard all night … we were able to finish drives when it really mattered.”
Then Goff turned his attention to the fans. The decibel level measurements aren’t available yet, but Ford Field was once again incredibly loud in cheering for the Lions.
“They’re the best, they’re the best,” Goff said proudly. “Look around right now — they’re not going to leave for quite some time. This was our last one in front of them (this year) and they were special tonight just like they were last week.
They deserve it. They deserve to enjoy this and I hope to give them a lot more of this going forward.”