If the season ended after Week 10, the Detroit Lions would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC postseason. Their Week 11 opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Coming off an emotional road win in Houston against the AFC South-leading Texans on Sunday night, there is the natural thought that playing the worst team in the league to this point–in Detroit, no less–could be a proverbial “trap game.”
The Lions are aware of the trap game phenomenon. However, quarterback Jared Goff doesn’t seem too concerned about this particular edition of the 8-1 Lions falling prey to looking past the 2-8 Jaguars.
“Yeah, we’ve got a mature group. There’s not much that needs to be said,” Goff told reporters on Wednesday. “We have our own standards that, regardless of who we’re playing, regardless of what their record is, we have our own things that we want to prove and improve on, and I think that’s the biggest battle right now, is to continue to improve and know we need to improve even though we’re able to win some of these close games.”
Goff hasn’t posted prolific passing numbers in the last three weeks, all wins, but the Lions haven’t needed him to throw for big numbers. The Pro Bowl QB sees the Jaguars as an opportunity to get back to the track that made him the NFC Offensive Player of the Month in October.
“Obviously, last week wasn’t as explosive as we wanted it to be,” Goff said as part of a longer answer. “So, yeah, getting that back on track, I think he’s absolutely right and it starts this week for us.”
