The Detroit Lions around German wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown are the team of the hour in the NFL and can achieve something that was last achieved by a team 52 years ago.

Munich/Detroit – They haven’t had a feeling like this in Detroit in a long time.

Since 2016, the Lions have regularly missed the playoffs in the NFL by more or less a wide margin. That something would change in this sobering balance this year was considered impossible at the latest after the miserable start to the season with only one win from the first seven games.

Critics felt vindicated again after a great mood of optimism prevailed in Detroit during the pre-season, also thanks to the “Hard Knocks” series: “The Lions are the Lions”, it is then said.

Which means: The Lions will find a way to screw it up again.

But now, a few weeks and five wins later, the mood has completely turned around the Michigan team.

“We know who we are and what we can do,” quarterback Jared Goff said matter-of-factly after his Lions’ surprising 34-23 win over the favoured Minnesota Vikings. Just don’t let anyone get carried away in Detroit, please!

Lions quarterback Goff: “This feels good “

The 28-year-old did, however, allow himself a shot of satisfaction when he addressed the words to his team’s many critics. They can now digest their earlier comments, he said: “That feels good. “

He has also been the target of criticism after being traded to the Los Angeles Rams for Matthew Stafford in 2021. While Stafford went on to win the Super Bowl with the Rams, Goff became the next face of the Lions, who had been in crisis for years.

Yet he had already led the Rams to the biggest game in American football himself. But the New England Patriots proved too strong for Goff and the Rams in February 2019.

But now, he said before the game against the Vikings, he is playing the best football of his career, specifically including his most successful time with the Rams.

“I’ve played well a lot of times in my career. But now I feel better than I ever have. I’m getting older, I’m understanding the game better and better. I feel like everything is coming together there now,” Goff said.

Goff in last five games without an interception

His stats bear that out. In the past five games, he threw a total of eight touchdown passes and not a single interception. He now ranks sixth in quarterback rating for the season and is trending upward.

The entire offense is also delivering stats this season that haven’t been seen for the Lions in many decades. Five games in a row with at least 25 points has been experienced by only very few of today’s Lions fans lately. The last time this happened was in 1954, according to ESPN.

However, Goff is not the only one to take credit for the strong offence. German Amon-Ra St. Brown and fellow receiver Josh Reynolds are consistently reliable pass receivers. They not only provided spectacular touchdowns of late, but also some key downs on the Lions’ offensive drives.

Feeling for Chark and Williams pays off

In addition, there is a good feel for players who were not on everyone’s radar. D.J. Chark, for example, was signed in March of this year after playing only four games for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season because of a broken ankle.

Against the Vikings, he not only caught a touchdown pass, but set a personal best for the season with six catches for 94 yards of space gained.

Another example: Jameson Williams. The Lions took the rookie with the twelfth pick in the draft, although he had previously suffered a serious knee injury in the NCAA National Championship Game with Alabama.

Against the Vikings, he scored his first NFL touchdown with his first catch – after an eleven-month injury layoff!

The success of the Lions, whose pre-season was documented in the HBO series “Hard Knocks”, is in no small part due to Head Coach Dan Campbell.

Goff: “We believed in ourselves “

“We believed in ourselves, but we also believed in Dan and his coaching team,” Goff said, highlighting the aplomb with which Campbell moderates the ups and downs within the team.

The Lions’ run, it might even end in the playoffs now. Should they actually make it, they would write history once again. Since the Cincinnati Bengals in 1970, no team in the NFL has managed to reach the postseason after a 1-6 start.

Now with six wins and seven losses, they still trail the Giants, Commanders and Seahwaks in the NFC playoff race.

But the remaining schedule is in the Lions’ favour. Of their last four opponents, only the Jets (7-6) have a positive record after Matchday 14. All the others – Panthers, Bears and Packers – have more losses than wins so far.

In Detroit, at least, they believe in the miracle again.

“We’re doing a lot of things right right now. But we still have four games to go. If we win them all, we have a very good chance,” Goff is sure.

And “The Lions are the Lions” would suddenly have a completely different meaning.