Taylor Decker offers the best comparison yet for Jared Goff's toughness
There isn't much that hasn't been said about Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff since he has come to the Motor City and helped a long struggling franchise start to play winning football again.
Goff has been the catalyst for the Lions in the pocket. His calm leadership and belief has translated Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes' vision for their team on the field. But none of that would be possible without toughness.
In 2021, Detroit's offenive line wasn't the unit it has become recently. In spite of that, Goff stayed upright. Since, there's been periodic injuries to key players up front. It hasn't mattered, as Goff has remained a constant in the pocket. Not even young players taking over up front in 2025 has been enough to faze Goff.
Taylor Decker thinks he knows why, and it all boils down to aforementioned toughness. When talking about his quarterback, Decker dropped wisdom on why Goff is such a great leader. According to him, it's traits that mirror fictional hitman John Wick, a regular guy until he's pushed to the brink.
"People don't talk enough about Jared (Goff) being tough. I was thinking about this the other day. He's got John Wick to him where he's super nice, but 'Oh, you shot my dog?' Then he goes out there and he's the ultimate competitor. If you didn't shoot his dog, you wouldn't know how tough he is. You can't say enough good things about him."
As Decker knows, it's more than just physical traits that define his quarterback. Goff is the whole package in the pocket, which helps him to excel every step of the way.
"We got a superstar quarterback who can do everything, make every throw, knows the whole playbook, knows the defenses, prepares incredibly. He's not afraid to take a hit. We don't want him to get hit, but if he has to, he's not afraid. He doesn't take big hits though that much."
If Goff does take a hit, chances are he can absorb it thanks to his toughness. As Decker understands, that will be something that continues to work wonders for him through this season and beyond.
Decker frustrated to be battling through injury issue early this season
While Goff has found a way to avoid hits this season and by default injuries, the same cannot be said for teammates. The Lions defense is now down superstar cornerback D.J. Reed in addition to Marcus Davenport, and the team has been lucky to avoid a more significant injury bug early on.
Decker himself is battling injury this season, and while it hasn't been enough to keep him off the field, it has impacted his game. As he explained, while he believes he has played well to lead a resurgent offensive line, he could be playing even better without injury.
"I do think I'm playing well, but the frustrating thing for me is, I think I could play better if I felt better. So that's the thing. I think the performances have been pretty good, but the frustrating thing is, I have my own personal standards. When you're not at 100%, it's hard to meet those (standards). But that's why you go out there and you do what you do best you can for the team. I feel like if I'm out there, I can give them a chance to win."
Detroit's offensive line has played a leading effort in the team's 3-1 start, but as Decker's commentary shows, there is always room for constructive criticism. He doesn't believe that he is doing as well as he can thanks to his body being beaten up early this season.
In spite of that, at least Decker knows he can depend on having John Wick in the pocket behind him. If that isn't reason to be comfortable, not much else is.
Kevin O'Connell's latest comments are the perfect example why he's one of the NFL's best head coaches
When the Minnesota Vikings went through the hiring cycle after the 2021 season, they were the last to hire a head coach.
At the time, Kevin O'Connell was viewed as a good candidate, but there were a multitude of other candidates who had the eyes of both the media and the Vikings. Brian Daboll, Raheem Morris, and Jim Harbaugh were all serious contenders for the job, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stayed patient and waited for O'Connell's Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl.
It's been a huge win for the Vikings, as O'Connell has led them to a 36-19 record four weeks into his fourth season as the head coach, including a Coach of the Year award. He continues to prove that they made the right call.
Kevin O'Connell continues to prove he's a great head coach
You can tell the way he talks to and about his players that he has a special connection. It helps that O'Connell was a former player and stood where they currently do.
This season has been a trying one for the Vikings. They have dealt with a multitude of injuries, which have made a major impact on the 2-2 record they have. Even so, you won't have O'Connell blaming anything for their poor performances.
"I'm very fortunate to have some players that kind of look at things through the similar lens as I do, where you know adversity or challenges or obstacles are really just opportunities for growth from a team standpoint," said O'Connell. "We didn't do it in either one of those games. We did in our other two, and now we get the fifth opportunity.
"But I'm a big believer, if you're looking for obstacles and excuses, you're probably going to find them. So why would we take the time and energy to look, and let's just focus on what we need to focus on in the present? And I think things will work out for this team because of the type of players and coaches we have. And my confidence level in the group is as high as it's ever been."
O'Connell has the right mindset as a head coach. It does nobody any good to either place blame or make excuses. Be honest about what's going on and work on fixing it. That process is good for the Vikings, especially with players getting healthy will fix a lot of the issues they have. Plus, if they can fix some of them before that happens, it could be a huge benefit for the rest of the season.
This could be the best coaching job of O'Connell's career by getting this team to the playoffs.
