Dan Campbell throws shade at Rams while heaping praise on Jared Goff

The storylines needed no massaging on Sunday night for the Detroit Lions. It was the first home playoff game ever hosted at Ford Field. The Lions have been abysmally bad for so long that they have not won a playoff game since 1991.

Dan Campbell joined the team in 2021 and set out to tear the culture down to the studs to build a winner. He's done just that, with the Lions finally getting a playoff win in the 21st century on Sunday.

Lions fans finally get to celebrate a playoff victory. But a subplot that emerged was the matchup, Jared Goff was quarterbacking the Lions against the team that traded him away, the Rams, swapping him for Matthew Stafford.

Dan Campbell completely validates Jared Goff and sets a subtle shot at Rams in the process

Jared Goff deserved a game ball after Sunday night's win that went well beyond football. Goff completed 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown, and most importantly: Got the win.

Dan Campbell got him the game ball after the win and made sure to let Goff know that he's, "good enough for Detroit." The implication? That he was told he wasn't good enough for Los Angeles.

It's subtle, but that is a bit of a dig at the Rams, and it's understandable. Goff could have become mentally resigned after the trade but stayed locked in, looking for a way to win with his new team. Now, he's on an NFC North-winning squad that has advanced to the divisional round over the team that traded for him.

Now, let's be honest about the situation, though. The Rams by no means lost the Goff trade. I think, at worst, it was a win-win for both sides. Stafford and the Rams won a Super Bowl after all.

If Goff and the Lions can manage to win a championship in the next few years, though? Well, then maybe the assessment of that trade looks a whole lot different...