'Quarterback' review: What did we learn about Jared Goff in the series' 2nd season?

USA Today

09-07-2025

There are spoilers here, so proceed knowing some things might be given away
Netflix released the second season of its "Quarterback" series on Tuesday, featuring an inside look at the 2024 season through the eyes of Jared Goff, Joe Burrow, and Kirk Cousins.
One of the clips released before the new season aired featured the Detroit Lions quarterback reminiscing on his calls with head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes when he was first traded to the team in 2021. The rest of the season follows the ups and downs Goff experienced as he led the team to a 15-2 season and a disappointing playoff loss.
SPOILER ALERT: The following observations contain spoilers from Season 2 of "Quarterback."
Goff says Rams blindsided him
Goff didn't hold back when talking about his conversations on the side of the Los Angeles Rams who threw him into their trade deal with the Lions for Matthew Stafford.
"Three weeks after the last game of the season, get a call from Sean [McVay] and really did not expect anything," Goff said. "He lets me know they're trading me to Detroit and I'm like, 'Whoa, okay, alright. What the hell? What's happening?' I would say about 30 seconds after that phone call, it was on Twitter."
The Rams traded Goff with two first-round picks and a third-round pick in exchange for Stafford. The Rams went on to win the Super Bowl the following season.
"You wish that it wasn't such a blindside and that there was some sort of maturity, I guess, to have that conversation and to be able to let me know what was going on and how things went down. And why this is happening. It was my first real taste of true adversity and your career is kind of at a fork in the road."
He admitted the playoff win against the Rams in 2023 had something a little extra since it was his former team.
Amon-Ra St. Brown should've been No. 16
In an alternate universe somewhere, Lions' wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is wearing No. 16.
In Episode 2, St. Brown's girlfriend, Brooklyn Adams, admitted to Christen Goff that when it came time for St. Brown to pick a number, she was supposed to count the number of receivers who were drafted ahead of him in 2021.
"I messed up, and it's not 14," Adams said. "I was off by two."
The Netflix crew talked to St. Brown about it, and he said he should've chosen No. 16, but that Goff looks better in it.
Christen helps Jared memorize play calls
Goff's play-call tutor at home is his wife, Christen. He said the couple will sit on the couch to relax and watch TV, but Christen will sit there with a play sheet and read the plays off for him to repeat and practice.
During Episode 3, Christen reads off a few wordy, outrageous-sounding plays for him to repeat, including the one that the following week saw running back David Montgomery throw a touchdown against the Titans.
Inside the Stumblebum
When the story of the 2024 season reached the Lions' late-December matchup with the Bears in Chicago, Netflix caught all of the build-up and reaction to the infamous "stumblebum" play that saw Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs purposely tumble in the backfield before Goff uncorked a pass to Sam LaPorta for a touchdown.
The Netflix crew took viewers to the week of practice before the game, showing the offense practicing the trick play to iron out the kinks. Goff at one point said he almost actually fell to the ground.
"Don't tell me that," then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.
During practice, they fine-tuned the play to include Gibbs taking a dive and having the offensive line call out "fumble" to throw off the defender meant to be watching LaPorta.
"That boy needs an acting job, huh?" wide receiver Jameson Williams said after the play worked to perfection during the game.