There’s no shortcut to earning respect, and Jared Goff wants to do it right. The 2025 NFL season came crashing down on the Detroit Lions, and the defeat against the Vikings totally crushed their playoff hopes. After three straight losses, Goff is eyeing the last game of the season against the Bears to gain back the respect he lost this season.

“It’s about respect,” Goff told the reporters, via ESPN’s Eric Woodyard on X. “Not only respect for yourself within your own team, but respect around the league. We want to go out there and put something good on tape. Getting a little bit of respect from some of the losses.”

This season, the Lions will either finish with a record of 9-8 or 8-9. It depends on the Bears game. So, respect is a fitting way to describe a winning season.

Goff will be extra careful against the Chicago Bears after what happened on Christmas. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown. The star quarterback also threw two interceptions. It is a normal stat, so what is the problem? Apart from those, he also contributed to five of the six turnovers, which included three lost fumbles. Minnesota won 23-10, marking their second win against the Lions this season.

Going back a year or two, the franchise was completely different. The Detroit Lions claimed the NFC North title for consecutive years, and for the same team to end at 4th in the division is quite surprising. Last year, they lost in the Wild Card Game. During the 2023 season, they reached the NFC Championship final before losing to the San Francisco 49ers.

Even more surprising is the fact that Detroit lost more games this season compared to its last two seasons combined.  And with that, rumors of Jared Goff getting traded have also started to circulate on the internet. However, head coach Dan Campbell has different ideas.

Dan Campbell stood his ground on the Jared Goff rumors

Jared Goff came to Detroit in 2021, and after one bad season, or more like one bad game against the Vikings, trade rumors spread like wildfire. Amid the rumors, the Lions HC has confirmed his stance on his star quarterback.

“Jared Goff is a stud,” Campbell said on Tuesday, in a conversation with 97.1 The Ticket. “We’re fortunate to have him as a quarterback. He’s a winning quarterback in this league. He played at a very high level all season long. He played even better than he played the year before, and he’s continued to play better. He’s a pro. He’s going nowhere.”

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Entering Week 18, he completed 366 of 536 for 4,233 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. He ranks second in TDs and third in passing yards as a QB in 2025. He also has seven interceptions, which is one of the best in the league. Without a doubt, he has been one of the star players of the franchise.

Somewhere, the trade rumors seem a bit too harsh for a quarterback like Jared Goff, especially since not everything is his mistake. The mid-season change of the play-caller brought in a new offensive coordinator and took things back to square one. On top of that, the O-line was also not at its best against the Vikings, allowing the QB to get sacked on five occasions.

Even after all this, one game changed the dynamic for Goff. Thankfully, the head coach is there to back him and explain to everyone how crucial he is to the team. Apart from 2021, the four-time Pro-Bowler has averaged 4,200+ passing yards every year since then and has maintained a 65% pass completion record. Last year, he scored 37 touchdowns, his best in a single season.

Goff cannot overwrite the losses of the season, but he can surely end things positively, which he is aiming to do in Week 18. The Lions already defeated the Bears once this season in Week 3, and the quarterback was phenomenal. He completed 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Lions win 52-21.

Jared Goff will hope to recreate something similar this weekend, too. A win cannot earn them a playoff spot magically, but it can surely earn him the respect he deserves from his peers and the league and put an end to the trade rumors. On the other hand, the Chicago Bears will try to come up with an answer for the 52-21 loss and try to improve their season record to 12 wins. With so many things lining up for Sunday Night Football, it will be interesting to see how things go down at Soldier Field.