DETROIT — Last Sunday, Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold entered the Vikings’ victorious locker room and was greeted by his teammates, who quickly doused him with water then lifted him off the ground.
It was something pure and special, out of a jubilant NCAA March Madness or maybe an eye-rolling Hollywood movie about how such a thing doesn’t happen in the real world of sports professional.
Yet it was real – real emotion, real appreciation for a 14th regular-season victory and for the quarterback who helped get it.
The next night, as became customary around Detroit games last year, fans who had gathered en masse for a road game in San Francisco celebrated the Lions’ 14th victory by filling the stadium with chants about their own quarterback…” JAR-ed Goff, JAR -ed Goff. Teammates would sometimes join in on a new competitor’s rallying cry.
The Lions (14-2) and Vikings (14-2) will face off Sunday at Ford Field in one of the most important regular season games in NFL history. Never before have two teams with so many wins met in the regular season, let alone with a division title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed on the line (the loser falls all the way to five).
“That’s what you’re here for, man,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. “At the end of the day, that’s it. I mean, you couldn’t write a better script, you couldn’t come up with that. …It just doesn’t get any better than this. It’s a fairy tale thing.
Part of the fairy tale lies in the improbability of the two quarterbacks – and central figures – in this match. In 2007, an 8-0 New England team beat a 7-0 Indianapolis team in a historic matchup of undefeated teams. Those teams were QBed by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, respectively, another chapter in a long-running rivalry between two league MVPs and future Hall of Famers.
This is Sam Darnold and Jared Goff.
This came out of nowhere; two California quarterbacks (Darnold of Orange County and USC, Goff of Marin County and Cal-Berkeley) moved to the Midwest with franchises that never won a Super Bowl (Minnesota) or even reached one (Detroit).
Darnold was the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but his career quickly fell into bust/journeyman territory. His three years with the New York Jets are remembered for 39 interceptions and his murmurs of “see ghosts» during an unfortunate game against the Patriots.
Two seasons in Carolina (some as a backup) produced little and last season he mostly watched in San Francisco. Minnesota signed him last offseason as a veteran, counting on rookie JJ McCarthy to lead the Vikings.
McCarthy was injured, however. Darnold suddenly became a star. He threw 35 touchdowns (previous career high was 19). His completion percentage of 68.1 is 8.4 percent higher than his career average (59.7) before the season started.
Oh, and then there are those 14 wins – which should land Darnold a long-term contract in Minnesota that no one could have seen coming. This shower wasn’t just a celebration, it was teammates declaring (knowingly or not) to management that this was their guy.
“A fun time, for your teammates to enjoy like that,” Darnold said. “It was pretty special.”
For Goff, it has also been special in Detroit. He was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft and had five good seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, including reaching the Super Bowl before losing to New England.
However, in 2021, the Rams felt they needed an upgrade and Goff was traded to Detroit, along with two first-round picks and a third-round selection, in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The Rams won the Super Bowl that season. Detroit went 3-13-1.
Goff was considered a throwaway during the trade, but Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes believed in him when others did not. Last year, the Lions hosted their first playoff game in decades — against Stafford and the Rams — and the home crowd wanted to make their new allegiance clear and chanted Goff’s name.
It’s become a battle cry, not only for Goff’s play (71.7 completion percentage and 36 touchdowns this season), but also for the way he and his teammates rose to the occasion in Detroit. He never shied away from living in the industrial Midwest, rather he made the most of it. A chance is a chance.
Now he’s looking for the Super Bowl he couldn’t deliver in Los Angeles. His name will be sung all Sunday evening.
“The people here are special, man,” Goff said after beating the Rams a year ago. “I’m grateful.”
For all the playoff implications – and they are important – and all the historical impact of these two teams playing such a game in the final week of the season, the quarterbacks add to it.
This would be incredible with anyone, including two all-time greats – a Brady or a Manning for example. Perhaps it’s even more incredible with two guys who have come a long way – with as many ups as downs – to get here.
One of the greatest regular season games in NFL history?
It’s Sam Darnold versus Jared Goff, showcasing the power of never giving up on yourself.
