Concise 'nightmare scenario' for Lions would confirm doubts about key player

After reaching the NFC Championship Game last year, and carrying a big lead into halftime before blowing it, the general consensus is the Detroit Lions are more likely to take the proverbial "next step" than regress notably this season.

Right after that loss to the 49ers head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged, while also saying it didn't believe it, that that could have been this team's one shot at a deep playoff run and/or a Super Bowl. There is that chance, even if the wide belief is the Lions aren't going anywhere as one of the best teams in the NFL.

Ask a Lions or NFL fan about Jared Goff, and you're likely to get a mix of opinions. Those who see his limitations are often called "Goff haters" by Lions' fans who fail to see those limits, and the broad perception of him on a national scale seems to always have hints of negativity.

But the Lions have been steadfast to express their faith in Goff, and they backed it up with their checkbook by giving him a big contract extension this offseason.

'Nightmare scenario' for Lions laid out concisely by Bleacher Report

Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report recently described a nightmare 2024 season for each NFL team in one sentence or less. Many are obvious, attached to an important player or a quarterback, and it's no different for the Lions.

"Detroit Lions: With his bag made, Jared Goff comes back to earth and the curse continues."

The curse Gagnon is the fabled "Curse of Bobby Layne", where the Hall of Fame Lions' signal caller, upon being traded early in the 1958 season, supposedly declared "This team will not win for another 50 years." The Lions' championship drought (since 1957) has of course extended well beyond that 50-year mark, but it's never felt closer to ending than it does right now.

Back to this year and Goff. He was easy to tab as a regression candidate around this time a year ago, then his numbers were mostly better last season. A big contract doesn't alter the fact that he has a wide gap between what his best and worst level of play looks like. At the same time, there's often a thin line between his best and his worst. The negative end of that for more than a stray game or two would indeed be a nightmare for the Lions this year.