Jared Goff is oft-maligned. We know that the Detroit Lions quarterback hasn't brought the team to the Super Bowl during his tenure with the squad, and we know that he isn't the fastest or flashiest signal caller out there.
But, it is beginning to feel like one down year from the entire Lions team in 2025 has also dragged Goff down. Despite a year with 4,564 passing yards (good for 2nd in the league in 2025), despite 34 passing touchdowns, despite posting the 2nd-highest passer rating of his career in 2025...he's still seen as a fluke.
Only Goff can do something with this criticism, whether that's choosing to ignore it or to use it as fuel, or whatever else. But one thing we can do is acknowledge that his detractors are sometimes taking things a little too far.
Bart Scott, the former NFL defender and now-NFL analyst for ESPN, definitely took things too far with Goff, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams during an appearance with Get Up on Wednesday morning. He said of the NFC North:
"I think the team that's going to surprise a lot of people is the Minnesota Vikings. I think Kyler Murray, that addition right there, you talk about the Bears going out and winning the division, you go from being the hunters to the hunted, I don't know if the Bears can sustain...arguably, at the end of this season, I think we may say that Kyler Murray is the best quarterback [in the NFC North.]"
Bart Scott just had a mind-boggling take on state of NFC North
It's unclear which part of this take is more absurd: the fact that Scott said it about a division that includes Love, Williams, and Goff, or the fact that the rest of the panelists agreed with him.
Murray's potential is unclear right now. The Vikings have done a lot to shore up their offensive line ahead of the 2026 season, and Kevin O'Connell is an excellent head coach to have on your team when you're looking to develop a struggling, young quarterback.
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That said, we know what the limitations are with Murray: his size gets in the way of him being able to see the entire field early in snaps, and his scrambling in the pocket can often be a detriment to the offense, just as it can be a strength. It depends on how well his line can keep up with him, and to rely on that for a full game feels risky. His health is also a concern: he's had three healthy seasons in seven years.
Again, to ignore a division full of talented quarterbacks who already have a proven track record of being dangerous passers and, ultimately, winners, is quite the choice. Minnesota is not a bad team, and they will be far better than their 8-9 season last year. But, the rest of the NFC North deserves a ton more credit - especially their quarterbacks.
The Lions' biggest flaws from 2025 had more to do with injuries than with their quarterback play or their offense. The 2026 season hasn't even begun, and it already feels like Goff's got to be on a redemption tour if this is the perception national media has about his game in Year 10.
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