# Jared Goff will eclipse Rams tenure this week, though he’s already a Lion for life
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When Jared Goff takes his first snap from center in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 5, two momentous events will transpire.
First, Goff will transcend the temporal plane by playing in his 70th game as the Detroit Lions’ quarterback, thereby surpassing the number of games he played with the Los Angeles Rams from 2016-2020.
Second, Goff will stamp his legacy with an important number that officially defines him as more Lion than Ram.
Unofficially, the number doesn’t matter all that much because Goff is already considered a Lion for life by the team and the city that has embraced him as one of the key pillars of the franchise’s historic turnaround.
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Yin and yang, Lions and Rams
In 69 games with the Rams, he had a 42-27-0 record with 18,171 yards, two Pro Bowls and a 2-3 playoff record.
In 69 games with the Lions, he has a 42-26-1 record with 17,816 yards, two Pro Bowls and a 2-2 playoff record.
But Goff has been much stronger with the Lions in a few key metrics. He has 17 more touchdowns, 14 fewer interceptions, a completion rate that’s 4.8% better, and a 100.9 passer rating, which is 9.4 points better than it was in L.A.
Offensive coordinator John Morton was a senior offensive assistant with the Lions in 2022, when Goff proved he wasn’t a bridge quarterback. He turned everything around for himself and the team midway through the season when he sparked an 8-2 finish for the Lions and jump-started their run to the NFC title game the next season.
I asked Morton on Thursday, Oct. 2, where he’s seen Goff get better since 2022. His answer: “Everything.” Like almost literally everything, Morton said.
“I mean the communication – (recognize, communicate, execute) that we always talk about – he’s just been phenomenal. Game-planning, me and him, just talking, the accuracy that he’s had, handling checks at the line. All that, just everything, he’s just so much better at.”
Accrued experience is something else that’s helped Goff. He turns 31 this month, in his 10th NFL season. That kind of time on task is a big advantage he didn’t have in L.A.
“And he’s played awhile,” Morton said, “so he’s comfortable in this offense and where we’re at. And that’s good for a quarterback because you want him to go out there and not think about a lot of stuff. But he’s got in some great checks and we’ve capitalized on it.”
Something else he never had in L.A. was the full support of coach Sean McVay and the right system for him. He also was never entirely embraced by Rams fans, even though he took them to a Super Bowl appearance.
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But maybe a stronger indicator of how much the scales have tipped in the Lions favor during Goff’s NFL tenure has been the emotional embrace he has received from Detroit. If you can’t feel it, you can certainly hear it with those “JA-RED GOFF!” chants that started during a win over Matthew Stafford and the Rams in the first playoff game at Ford Field in January 2024.
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It’s impossible to predict how much longer Goff will play for the Lions. It also doesn’t matter too much, as far as his legacy is concerned. Goff is a Lion for life and will always be reminded of it with the chants that rise up whenever he returns to Detroit long after he’s retired.