The Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions faced off on Sunday in the NFL playoffs wild-card round in Detroit at Ford Field, three seasons ago they swapped quarterbacks which has changed the fate of each club.
Since this major trade that happened on 30th January 2021 both of the teams have been intertwined, Matthew Stafford was sent to L.A. which led to getting a Superbowl title the next year, and Jared Goff got three draft picks. It helped them to rebuild, which led to their first division in 30 years.
The Lions embarked on a new journey at the end of the 2020 season, having finished with a 5-11 record. During the season, general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia were fired.
Brad Holmes from the Rams was brought in to manage the team as general manager, while Dan Campbell from the New Orleans Saints was recruited to take over as coach by team owner Sheila Hamp.
During Holmes’ first few weeks on the job, Stafford went to ownership and demanded a trade, which was promptly approved. Stafford sensed another teardown.
Why did the L.A. Rams trade Jared Goff?
Most people believed the Rams’ primary objective was to acquire Matthew Stafford by trading Jared Goff to the Lions in exchange for Stafford, who would increase the team’s chances of winning a championship.
That was accurate, given that Stafford won a Super Bowl in his first season with the team, but the situation involved more than simply a team looking to better.
McVay and Goff’s relationship had become so bad that it was difficult to see them staying together if the Stafford deal fell through.
According to ESPN, McVay and Goff’s extremely unlike personalities clashed throughout the 2020 campaign, with the rookie coach allegedly criticizing his quarterback in meetings. During media sessions, McVay made it apparent that he thought Goff needed to improve at preventing turnovers.
After throwing a career-worst 16 interceptions in 2019, Goff has 13 in 15 games in 2020. The Rams’ outstanding defense helped them qualify for the playoffs and even win a game, but after losing to the Packers in the divisional round, it seemed like the end was near.
At the time, Goff was stated as the team’s quarterback “right now” by both McVay and general manager Les Snead, who declined to make any commitments for the 2021 campaign.
What does Goff and McVay have to say?
Not exactly hiding the significant effect the move had on him, Goff told ESPN, that he thinks it’ll never leave him, which is a that’s a good thing. They had differences there at the end, but he insisted that McVay was a “great coach.”
McVay acknowledged to ESPN that he handled Goff’s last days in Los Angeles improperly. Maybe he should have handled it more skillfully. Without a doubt, and he never runs away from that.
Goff was entitled to better than how everything happened. McVay believes he is also aware of that. And while he has no problem owning up to those things, he believes it benefits all of them to be able to reflect on them, as time goes on, he appreciates him more and more.
That gratitude could vanish for a few hours on Sunday, as the Rams’ goal will be to exert as much pressure as possible on the Lions’ formidable offense. However, as it happens, Goff, McVay, and Stafford as a group will undoubtedly continue to think about the events from three years ago.
Has Jared Goff been in the Super Bowl?
Goff will become just the seventh quarterback in history to start a Super Bowl for two different teams if he can lead the Lions to victory.
In his third NFL season and his second under McVay, Goff made it to Super Bowl LIII by guiding a high-flying offense that turned in a 13-win campaign.
The most contentious non-call in the Rams’ NFC title game victory against Los Angeles may be the Rams’ path to the Super Bowl, as Los Angeles’ Nickell Robey Coleman looked to be interfering with Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis.
But in the end, Goff’s tenure with the team came to an end because of their offensive shortcomings in the pivotal game.
