The Detroit Lions’ playoff hopes took a gut punch on Sunday - and not in the way fans are used to seeing. In a wild final 25 seconds, the Lions found the end zone twice, only to have both touchdowns wiped off the board by offensive pass interference penalties.
That kind of finish can unravel a locker room. But not this one.
Jared Goff isn’t pointing fingers.
The Lions quarterback, who’s seen his share of highs and lows in this league, acknowledged the sting of the moment but refused to let the officiating become the story.
“[The officials] have a hard job,” Goff said. “I don’t want to make any excuses… We’ve been on the right side of a lot of these, and we’ve been on the wrong side on a lot of these.”
That’s a veteran response from a guy who knows how quickly the narrative can flip in this league. Goff did admit he had some questions about the second flag - the one on rookie wideout Isaac TeSlaa - calling it “up for interpretation.”
But even then, he didn’t let frustration take over. Instead, he kept the focus where it belongs: on the Lions.
“Listen, man, they’re going to make the calls,” Goff said. “If I was sitting on the other side of that right now, we’d be saying, ‘Great job.’ But those sting for sure.”
And sting they do - especially considering what’s at stake. The loss leaves Detroit in a precarious spot.
To sneak into the playoffs, they now need to win out and hope Green Bay drops both of its remaining games. That’s not exactly the position this team envisioned a few weeks ago.
But Goff isn’t leaning on the “what ifs.” He’s looking inward.
At the end of the day, the Lions didn’t lose because of just two penalties. They lost because they put themselves in a spot where the game came down to the final seconds and a couple of judgment calls. That’s the part Goff and this team are owning.
It was a bizarre and brutal finish, no doubt. But the Lions still have a pulse, and they’ve got a quarterback who’s keeping the locker room steady. If they’re going down, they’re going down swinging - no excuses, no distractions, just football.