The Detroit Lions' once sky-high hopes of reaching the Super Bowl fizzled in 2025 in a challenging campaign that illustrated just how difficult it is to sustain success in the NFL.
Plenty has to go right to make a deep run: Key players need to stay healthy, teams need to play complementary football, capitalize on the most important opportunities and lean on their stars to finish the job. It's a formula the Lions failed to replicate in 2025, and with their playoff dreams dashed, the criticism naturally turned toward quarterback Jared Goff.
Lions coach Dan Campbell has a message for those critics: Don't give up on Goff, because he's going to be around for quite some time.
"Jared Goff is a stud," Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket, via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News. "He played at a very high level all season long ... even better than he played the year before ... I’m thankful to have him, he’s an absolute stud, he’s a pro, he’s going nowhere."
A year after throwing for 4,629 yards and a 37-12 TD-INT ratio, Goff posted similar numbers in 2025 (4,233 yards, 33-7 TD-INT ratio through 16 games). His passer rating fell just 4.8 points shy of the mark he logged in 2024. But the Lions offense, once an outrageously explosive attack, took a notable step backward in 2025, no longer striking fear in the hearts of opponents.
Goff struggled significantly at times, especially in a punchless 16-8 Week 11 defeat on the road in Philadelphia, the first of five losses over their last seven games. While he still managed to keep the Lions in games, he no longer lit up defenses and the final scores spoke for themselves.
What folks might not factor into their evaluation of the Lions, however, is how roster and staff turnover hurt this team. Innovative offensive coordinator Ben Johnson left to take the top job in Chicago, Detroit watched Frank Ragnowretire, attempted to replace him by shuffling the line and drafting guard Tate Ratledge, then suffered key injuries up front that hurt both their running and passing games. A Lions offense that was once built on establishing the run failed to do so over their three-game losing streak in December, a result that could be pinned on their downgraded blocking unit.
The issues were predictable, so much that Ragnow attempted to come out of retirement to try to stem the tide of their collapse. He failed his physical, though, leaving the Lions with the same discouraging outlook up front that ultimately doomed them.
Goff isn't responsible for these unfortunate outcomes. But when folks review the Lions' tape, they'll note he wasn't quite the same passer who shredded opponents routinely as he'd done in 2023 and 2024, in large part because Detroit's offense wasn't the same.
Fortunately, the Lions have an offseason to retool on both sides of the ball (their inconsistent defense could use some upgrades, too). Detroit fans shouldn't expect a change under center, though, Goff clearly still has the full faith and confidence of his coach.