Here’s what Jared Goff said in his postgame press conference after the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears 23-20 on Thanksgiving.
On his immediate thoughts on the game:
“Yeah, that was a crazy ending, right?” We thought we had won, that we were going to go to overtime, that we would get a chance to have our final drive, that we had won again, and so on. Finally, our defence – bend don’t break – made those late-game plays – those sacks were huge, some of the back-end stuff was huge covering, and they made it happen. But, sure, it was a good win – doesn’t matter how it happened, who it was against, division game on Thanksgiving – we’ll take whatever win we can get.”
Regarding eating the turkey leg after the Thanksgiving win:
“Yep, it’s the finest. I was just talking about how, in your NFL career, you have these bucket list items – obviously, holding the Lombardi is number one, but eating the turkey after the Thanksgiving win is also on there, and it’s something I’ll never forget. It was actually pretty excellent; the stuffing was good, we were having a good time, and it’s amazing – it’s a memory I’ll cherish forever.”
Regarding David Montgomery eating carrots instead of turkey leg:
“David was eating carrots yeah – I don’t know, he maybe wasn’t hungry.”
Regarding how frustrating the Bears’ red zone defence was:
“Yeah, it was more that — you know, obviously the turnovers and some of the penalties impacted, and then we just had some bad plays down there that we didn’t execute very well. It wasn’t our best performance in the red zone, and we can do better. We’ll learn from it; learning from mistakes is a fantastic way to improve. But there is a good red zone unit over there, but we had other opportunities to create plays that we did not take.”
Regarding Lions tight end Sam LaPorta’s effectiveness today:
“Yeah, that was good–a few of good ones for him. He got himself exposed on both of those and pounced on him. But he’s a good player, and he’s finally returning to himself at this moment, which feels nice.
On his thoughts while dominating early in the game:
“Yeah, I think like the red zone stuff, we had a chance to make it 28-0, or whatever it would have been if we had scored all the touchdowns, and even at the end of that drive at the end of the half, make it 23-0, or even 19-0 if we had a field goal.” But you just know you left the door open a little bit, and you know, ‘Alright, this is going to be a game now,’ and we’ve kind of put ourselves in this position, sadly. (We) have to battle for it now and complete the game, and I think they responded brilliantly. That team is a good team; they’re talented, and they fought hard, and we were able to win in the end.”
Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams apologized to the team in the locker room after the game:
“Yes, it is massive. He’s right where he should be, and he’s doing a wonderful job. I know he made a mistake, but I’m proud of him for how he handled it, how he stood up and accepted responsibility. We’ll go on; there are no issues there.”
On the handoff to Lions T Penei Sewell:
“Yeah, that was a fun project that we’d been working on for a while. It hadn’t come up for whatever reason, and he got it and didn’t quite have the look to throw it, so it didn’t work out, but he made two or three men miss on the tackle, and I was giggling the entire time.”
On the end of the game:
“Yes, it ended in our favour. It’s difficult, guy; it’s end-of-game stuff, and both sides are making decisions in real time. We won today after putting in a lot of reps and spending a lot of time on situational issues. I think Caleb (Williams) performed very well, and I’m sure we’ll be battling for a long time, but he’s a fantastic player who did a good job.”
Regarding Lions T Penei Sewell’s discipline in not throwing the ball on the end around:
“Yeah, well it wasn’t – yeah, you’d like him to throw it away; that’s what we were joking with him about, but he was like, ‘No, I’m only going to get this chance once, I’m going to break some tackles.'” So be it; I believe he returned to the line of scrimmage — no harm, no foul.”
Upon seeing players step up defensively:
“Yes, it’s entertaining to witness that. Obviously, Za’Darius (Smith) is a new addition to our club, but (Al-Quadin) Muhammad has been doing an excellent job since he arrived – on defence, on the scout team, making it difficult for us, and now in the games. It’s wonderful to watch players step up; it’s never fun to see guys get hurt, injured, or forced to leave the game, but it’s fun when guys can step up and make those plays and make a name for themselves on national television.”
On Za’Darius Smith’s contributions to the locker room:
“Yeah, he’s brought a lot of energy and awareness of where we are in the season and what we’re looking for. He brings that enthusiasm every day; he’s clearly a terrific physical player on the field, but I believe his emotional and mental strength contribute to that defence on a regular basis. “It’s fun.”
On what it meant to break the Thanksgiving Day losing streak:
“Yeah, as I previously stated, winning on Thanksgiving was a bucket list item for me, and now we can begin our new winning streak. But, sure, it was big, and that game came down to the wire, and you were apprehensive about which way it would go. But getting the W in the way we did, and putting an end to the skid that we’ve been on, is another tick off our list that we’ve been working on for the last several years, and it feels good.”
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