Fresh off an exhilarating 31-26 comeback win over the Chicago Bears, Lions head coach Dan Campbell addressed the media inside Ford Field.
“Man, I was proud of the guys,” a hoarsely proud Campbell said. “Just a great win.”
Campbell was especially proud of his quarterback, Jared Goff. It was not a good overall game from Goff, who threw three interceptions and struggled under pressure for much of the afternoon. But Goff delivered brilliantly at the end of both halves, including a fantastic final four minutes when the quarterback led two touchdown drives to engineer a comeback from down 26-14 to a 31-26 win.
“It speaks volumes (about Goff),” Campbell stated. “He didn’t have his best game, but really when you needed him the most in a two-minute drive at the end of the half, that was pretty big.”
Campbell was referring to a great scoring drive at the end of the first half, capped by a Goff-to-Amon Ra St. Brown touchdown pass. The 75-yard drive took just 1:36 and gave the Lions a 14-10 lead despite the team being largely outplayed by Chicago.
“And then at the end of the game, that’s when he’s at his best. Down two scores in a game he’s not playing his best in, I think that speaks volumes. Here’s what we know about Goff: At the very least he’s going to be mentally tough and physically tough. You can always count on that; you can bank on that.”
Campbell continued,
“Today he showed his resiliency. When we needed those plays, he showed up in no-huddle mode. He was awesome.”