It became abundantly clear two weeks ago that the Rams were strongly considering making a change at quarterback when Sean McVay wouldn’t endorse him as the starter. Goff’s demise in Los Angeles didn’t take long after that, with the Rams agreeing to trade him to the Lions for Matthew Stafford.
It wasn’t long ago that Goff was viewed as the face of the franchise – the player who would help sell tickets in Stan Kroenke’s $5 billion behemoth, SoFi Stadium. That’s no longer the case as Goff will now call Ford Field in Detroit home.
But he will be back in SoFi Stadium soon enough. The Rams will host the Lions in 2021, though we don’t yet know when the game will be played.
For a game that wasn’t near the top of the list in terms of intrigue for the Rams next season, it now becomes much more interesting with Goff and Stafford squaring off against each other and their former teams.
There will undoubtedly be a sense of revenge-seeking for Goff after the team that drafted him first overall in 2016 dumped him less than five years later – and just over a year after giving him a $134 million deal. He’ll want to prove the Rams wrong for shipping him and a pair of first-rounders to Detroit.
And with the chance to do so at SoFi Stadium? Goff should be circling the date on his calendar whenever the schedule is released this spring.
Under Goff, the Rams were 5-2 at home this season, but his numbers weren’t exactly impressive. He had just six touchdown passes and five interceptions with a passer rating of 87.3.
He’ll need to play much better than that if he hopes to beat the Rams on the road next season.