Let’s picture an ideal scenario here for a moment: after a long season led by quarterback Jared Goff, this young Lions team rallies around for one last win that signifies the end of a journey. The team rides down Woodward avenue hoisting the Lombardi trophy as the entire city of Detroit celebrates along with them. No doubt at the top of that float would be Goff, the leader of this team. This scenario would inevitably bring up an interesting question. Where would a Super Bowl ring place Jared Goff among Lions QBs all-time?
What makes this an interesting question for Lions fans to ponder is the obvious: No Lions quarterback has ever won a Super Bowl with Detroit. Sure there’s been a few NFL championships in the motor city, but in the Super Bowl era, Detroit QBs have been massively unsuccessful in the postseason, to the tune of 1 playoff win since 1957. Undoubtedly, the best statistical Quarterback in Detroit history is Matthew Stafford, with the big blemish on his tenure in Detroit being that he couldn’t get the city a playoff win, let alone a Super Bowl.
Bringing a Super Bowl win to the city of Detroit could mean a lot of things for Jared Goff’s resumè in Detroit. It’d mean that he’d be likely to have 4 playoff wins to his Detroit career when, once again, no other quarterback has one more than one since ‘57. It’d also bring the opportunity for him to win a Super Bowl MVP, which is a major accomplishment itself. It would also more likely than not have him holding most of the Lions postseason passing records, while holding at least one regular season record as well. So the accolades would absolutely be there for him to surpass any previous Lions qb in all-time rankings.
The major thing that’s going to sway fans’ opinion on Goff’s placement among other Lions QBs is the simple fact that he hasn’t been here long enough to put up the stats that others did. If he were to play out his remaining contract in Detroit, he may come out to second place in all time passing yards in Detroit, while still coming in more than 20,000 yards behind one Matthew Stafford. A good enough season would put him in the top 3 for passing touchdowns in franchise history, and he’s already first among qualified QBs in passer rating, interception percentage, and completion percentage in Detroit. So the real question is how much value does a Super Bowl ring bring to a résumé?
For some fans, Goff will be behind Stafford regardless of if he wins a ring, and for others, playoff success is enough to separate him from the rest in the all-time rankings. What nobody can deny is that Jared Goff has made a major impact on Detroit football and has started something special in the city. Not to mention, the Super Bowl window for this young team is only just now opening.
