A deal went down in 2021 between the Lions and Rams that involved trading places of their man behind center. The Lions gave up their best quarterback in franchise history to the Rams. The Rams were done with the quarterback they drafted in the first round 3rd overall. The Lions were living in the basement of the NFC North for years. The Rams were knocking at the door of a Superbowl title. It sucks seeing your best quarterback ever to play in a Lions uniform leave to get their guy the Rams didn’t want anymore. It was the three draft picks that Lions fans received in this trade that meant they could stomach seeing Matthew Stafford winning a Superbowl for the Rams the following year. The Lions and the football world thought Jared Goff would hold down the fort until the team finds his replacement. The draft picks did help the Lions as we fast forward to present times. Goff has improved his game and is still the guy behind the center for the Lions. Goff and Lions won 12 games this season while winning their division. They are hosting a playoff game for the first time since the 1990’s. The Rams found their way back into post-season as a wild card and now for the first time these two quarterbacks that traded places will meet. They will meet in Detroit this weekend and face off against each other as the Stafford Rams versus the Goff Lions in a wild card playoff game.

Matthew Stafford spent 12 seasons in Detroit as he started 165 games for the Lions. His is record not very impressive as a starter. He is 74-90-1 but has most of the franchise stats as a staring quarterback. Stafford tallied up 45,109 passing yards with 282 touchdown passes and as a gunslinger threw 144 interceptions. Stafford started 3 playoff games all on the road for the Lions and did not win any of them. For the Rams this year, this was a team that was not going to make post-season. The Rams have hardly any draft capital and have been in salary cap hell. Stafford looked old and ancient last season. This year he found his fountain of youth as he guided the Rams to the playoffs, and he had a 9-6 record behind center doing that. He missed a few games & the team looked bad when he was not playing. Stafford this season has 24 touchdown passes with only 11 interceptions. The last three seasons in a Rams uniform, Stafford started 41 games, has a winning record of 24-17, and tallied up 10,938 passing yards with 75 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions. Stafford is 4-0 in the playoffs for the Rams with that Superbowl win over the Bengals in 2022. Stafford and the Rams were home for post-season last year.

Jared Goff spent 5 seasons with the Rams as he started 69 games. His record was pretty good as he went 42-27 behind center wearing gold and blue. Goff tallied up 18,171 yards for the Rams with 107 touchdown passes and only 55 interceptions. Goff went 3-3 in the playoffs as he was on the losing end of the most boring Superbowl in history of the game versus the Patriots in 2019. Goff has definitely found a home in Detroit as he is 24-24-1 in three seasons in Detroit. He has tallied up 12,258 passing yards with 78 touchdown passes and only 27 interceptions. This season has been Goff’s best. He has the Lions hosting a home game in the playoffs which was something Stafford could not do. Goff’s record behind center this season is 12-5 and he has thrown 30 touchdown passes compared to only 12 interceptions. Goff is completing 67.3% of his passes this season as the Lions are using his talents and giving their guy a strong running game.

This trade has benefited both teams. The Rams got over the hump winning the Superbowl. The Lions are not the Lions of old and are one of the better teams in the NFC. The Lions are just starting to hit their peak while many thought the Rams were going in the other direction, but they have surprised the league. The Rams has not much draft capital with trades like this to get Stafford, but the picks they have had have hit. The Rams still have Aaron Donald who is one of the best defensive players in the league. The Rams have one of the best receivers in the game, Cooper Cupp. The Lions have assembled some talent around Jared Goff as his best receiver is no slouch in Amon-Ra St. Brown. Lions have their own version of Donald, a much younger defensive lineman in Aidan Hutchinson.

Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford have faced each other before they traded places back in 2018. That year, Goff led the Rams over the Stafford Lions, 30-16. Both players will have chips on their shoulders facing their old teams. If you are Lions fans with so much losing history in the last several decades, you have to be cringing at the thought of your old quarterback coming back home to beat a team you are excited about. This week some stories came out that Lions fans want to ban people who are wearing old Stafford jerseys to the game. The wife of Matthew Stafford, Kelly, heard that news & she says it’s sad after all the things her husband did in the city of Detroit. I’m sorry, but the fact is Lions fans want their team to win and get to the next round. Stafford is on the Rams now and was a guy wanting to be traded back in 2021. This is the playoffs, and only one team is going to win and move on. The Stafford jersey could go back on their backs the next round. Lions fans wore their Stafford jerseys rooting for the Rams in the Superbowl. This is not a regular season game, so it should not be a homecoming to praise Stafford and all that he did for the town of Detroit and state of Michigan. Stafford is public enemy number one now so Kelly will have to get over this and understand what sports are all about. If her husband wins, this season will sting the Detroit fans.

What about Jared Goff’s feelings in this game? Matthew Stafford in a loss could leave his ole stomping grounds with his head up because he won a Superbowl. Because he got the Rams this far and into the post-season. It looked like the year without a Santa for the Rams. Goff being traded away so his old team could find someone to do a better job and actually win the Superbowl. Which they did. How would you like to process all of that on your plate? If Goff loses this game against his old team and the Lions fan’s old quarterback, people will want him replaced next season. If Goff and the Lions win this game, it will give this season actual meaning. Sure the team is excited winning the division & playing a home playoff game. Beating the guy that they traded for and for the fans, seeing their old quarterback lose would go a long way. If the Lions win this one and lose in the division round, fans could deal with that. Next season this team will have high hopes & not be thinking the same ole Lions with that losing history. It’s still engraved in their minds from all those bad seasons that piled up like some nightmare traffic jam at rush hour. This is a great story for opening week of the post-season. This game will mean more for Goff than Stafford. I bet anyone a dollar on that.