It wasn’t the game that Detroit Lions were hoping to witness at Ford Field on Saturday, January 18, but it’s the game they got. The Lions fell in a big way to the Washington Commanders, taking them out of the race for the Super Bowl.
From the start, things started unraveling quickly. From Lions franchise quarterback Jared Goff getting injured to five turnovers, it seemed like nothing was going the way of the Lions, and the final score was a heartbreaking 45-31.
Following the game, Goff opened up about who he blames for the loss.
Jared Goff on the Detroit Lions’ Loss to the Washington Commanders
Speaking in a postgame press conference, Goff appeared just as stunned as fans about the team’s loss to Washington.
“Just crap,” Goff said regarding the game. “I wish I had an answer for you. It just sucks. Yeah, I wish I could have played a little bit better. I wish I could have taken care of the ball better. I wish I could have had the pick-six back, that was a really poor decision by me.”
Then, Goff assigned blame for the loss. He blamed himself, stating, “It’s on me. I’ve got to take care of it better, and we would have given ourselves a better chance to win had I done that.”
While the Lions’ defense has been injured for weeks now, with the team having to rely on backups, that wasn’t the full problem during Saturday’s game. Head coach Dan Campbell admitted that the turnovers are what got to Detroit. ‘Defense holds them, limits points and we come back and turn the ball over,” Campbell said.
Goff added that the turnovers are what he’s “beating myself up about. He continued, “All three of them [first-half turnovers] turned into points.” Goff also added that it was a “humbling game” and that football is a “humbling sport.”
Meanwhile, Campbell didn’t blame Goff for the loss. He blamed himself.
“What [the Lions players] put into it,” Campbell said. “What the people don’t know, what they go through. You have to get up, body’s beat to … You know, mentally stay locked in and do those things so… Long season… It’s my fault. It’s my fault.”
Jared Goff Gets Injured During Commanders Matchup
Goff suffered a scare during the first half of the game, when the quarterback left the game and was under evaluation for a concussion. The moment happened after making his second turnover of the game, when he was hit by Quan Martin’s interception return, which resulted in a touchdown for the Commanders.
Goff walked to the sideline and went into concussion protocol, and veteran NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater took over. Hendon Hooker was also on the sidelines as the team’s third backup quarterback.
Goff quickly returned to the game, so he must have cleared concussion protocol, but that didn’t help the Lions win. Pretty much as soon as Goff jumped back into the action, he threw another interception, this time at the end of the half, giving the Commanders something to celebrate going into halftime.
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