The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Texans Facing Jared Goff Who's 'Playing The Best Football Of His Career'

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

The Houston Texans return to primetime to host the Detroit Lions for Sunday Night Football. Dan Miller, sports director for FOX2 in Detroit and radio voice of the Lions, joins "The Matt Thomas with Ross" to discuss the Lions looking to extend their winning streak to seven games. Jared Goff will be facing a Texans' defense that ranks third in the NFL by allowing just 167.4 yards passing a game and ranks fourth in sacks. "Jared is now playing the best football of his career," Miller said. Goff is the first quarterback in league history to complete at least 72% of his passes with a passer rating of 105 or higher in six straight games. Wide receiver Jameson Williams will return to the field after serving a two-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. Miller also breaks down head coach Dan Campbell's game plan, whether newly acquired Za'Darius Smith will suit up and more.

Sunday the Rockets will be in Detroit to take on the Pistons. Meanwhile, the Lions come to Houston for the 720 national broadcast against the Detroit Lions. Joining us right now, the longtime voice of the Detroit Lions. He's also the sports director at the Fox affiliate in Detroit. It's Dan Miller here on the Matt Thomas show. Dan, it's Matt and Ross. Thank you for joining us. I have to ask, is this the most excited you have been as a sportscaster and voice of the Lions

about the Lions realistically playing on a Super Sunday? Yeah, I think so, and I appreciate you guys having me on. Look, they really at the end of 2022, when they were an 8 out of 10 to close the season, and then came right back last year started the season with the winning Kansas City tonight. They hung the banner. You started to believe there was something happening here that was real. And then to see them win the division last year, something they hadn't done in 30 years, to beat the Rams, to beat the Bucks, to get the NFC championship game,

and basically 30 minutes away from the Super Bowl, you understand what they've got. And I think the most impressive thing about it, Matt, is that it's built on a firm foundation with young players that are developing and getting better, whereas in the past we'd seen maybe a Lions team that got to the playoffs and it looked like it was just kind of, you know, put together with sticks and glue.

Had a chance, but nothing really that was going to last. So, yeah, it's exciting. They're legitimately good. good. They are playing great football right now. They've endured some injuries, but it's, I think the most that Lions fans have been able to sink their teeth into it a long, long time. Let me ask you this to go back to your memory banks a little bit, if you don't mind. The day that Matthew Stafford gets moved to Los Angeles in return for Jared Gough, the reaction to Detroit sports fans, people that cover the team, guys like yourself, just saying,

what are we doing here or was it time for Matthew to go and then fast forward to now about the development of golf as a quarterback while wearing the lion's gear? Yeah, completely respectful of Matthew, it was time to go. They just needed to turn the page. Now, the acquisition of Jared Goff, I don't think a lot of us thought that he was going to be the long-term quarterback in Detroit. I thought there was a chance.

I knew they had to rehabilitate him, and I'd seen him take a team, you know, into the playoffs and into a Super Bowl, and he had done some good things, but he had just fallen. It seemed so far off the map in L.A., and they had lost faith in him, and certainly seemed like they were just shipping him out. But I will say this, the guys that believed that he could be the Lions next starting quarterback for the long term were the general manager Brad Holmes and his assistant general manager Ray Agnew, both of whom were in. LA when they drafted him, and both of whom were part of the Rams organization that saw him play his best football out there. So while I think the widespread view was he's a play solver, he's a bridge quarterback, I think they felt like this guy with the right team around him can be the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and I think that belief has been borne out.

And Jared is now playing the best football of his career and really put together a one-month stretch here that you could throw some numbers up there that no quarterback in NFL history has ever put together in terms of completion percentage, quarterback rating, and getting through a tough five-week stretch here that we looked at at the beginning of the year and thought, man, that's going to be probably the most difficult part of their schedule. And he's been at his best. The talent of Dan Miller, the voice of the Lions with us here on a sports talk 790 coming to you from Oklahoma City.

You do a weekly segment with Dan Campbell. we obviously only get sound bites and whatnot. Obviously, the guys love him, the city loves him. He's atypical of the typical coach speak that we'll see around the NFL circles. But take us into your world a little bit. You get a chance to talk with him, I'm assuming several times during the week, whether it's on television or radio. Give me some things about him that maybe the average fan in Houston, Texas,

watching the Lions from a distance, wouldn't know about him. You know, start with this. He's a great person. I mean, he's got a good heart. He means well in everything that he does. He cares about other people. And I've been doing this long enough to know that not all coaches are like that. They can get caught up in their own little world,

and it is about what they're doing and not worrying about anybody else. He's a heck of a person. I think that's where you start with him. His wife's outstanding. He's got a great family. And I think that's kind of what permeates everything he does. there's a consistency to him. He's the exact same person

if you're sitting on the couch talking to him, doing him in an interview, as if you were drinking a beer in the corner, as if you were spending any time with him. He doesn't change. I've not seen him lose his temper ever in a press conference. I've not seen him ever let somebody get under his skin. He has an ability to just kind of go with the flow.

And I think the players appreciate, they appreciate the consistency, they appreciate the honesty, They appreciate always knowing where they stand. They appreciate the fact that he clearly cares about them and wants to do best by them and give them the best opportunity to succeed. He has been exactly what Detroit needed. And, you know, his initial press conference was the whole kneecap thing

that everybody pulled that 30 seconds out. But I tell you, we've seen a lot of press conferences here because unfortunately we've changed a lot of coaches with the lions, with the tigers, with the pistons, with the red wings. That was the best introductory press conference I'd ever seen because he said the things that people needed to hear. And it wasn't blowing smoke. It wasn't just blue skies. It was about what the vision was, what it was going to take.

And I think it resonated with people right away. But he just has an infectious, charismatic personality that I think people like, I think players like, and it has been perfect for Detroit. Dan, Aidan Hutchinson's leg injury was gruesome, sad for a lot of Detroit Lions fans. Like, what's going to happen now? You lose one of the best defensive players in the game. Zadarius Smith comes in the trade. First of all, what do you know about Zadarius except on the opposite side calling games against the Browns? And then what's his availability for Sunday, do you think?

Yeah, I think that's up in the air. I think there's a chance you won't play. I think they are cognizant of the fact that this was his byweek and he stayed in Cleveland. and he's a 32-year-old guy who, if he played, would be on schedule for 18 games. And I think they are cognizant to the fact that he might need a little downtime before he jumps in there. They gave him some time to go back home and get everything in order, and he just came back today. So obviously it's going to be a crash course in the playbook. If he plays, it'll be a limited snap count.

Look, here's what I know about him, and he's been in the NFC North, so we've seen him for quite some time. He's 32 years old, so he's not what he was when he was 26, but he still can provide something that they desperately need, and that's an ability to get after the quarterback, because when Aiden went down and Marcus Davenport went down, and Derek Barnes went down, you know, they lost three of their best edge guys, and John Kaminsky was another guy that went down for them earlier this year in training camp. So they really needed something, and he walks in the door as their best edge rusher. So, again, don't know if he's going to play this week. Josh Pascal will be back.

He's a former second round pick that I know they're hoping is going to be able to take some steps this year and help them out. But it is a question mark, Matt, about this team and what they're going to be able to accomplish if they can't get that pass rush going, because it's been a problem even the last couple of weeks when we've played some quarterbacks. You know, Jordan Love wasn't 100%. Mason Rudolph isn't top of the line when it comes to NFL starters. but they got a lot of time back there, and it's hard to survive in this league if you're not at least impacting the passers somehow.

Lastly, Dan, as you and I are speaking, the Texans have activated Nico Collins and put him off of the injured reserve list. He can now open to practice today, so that's going to be a very encouraging sign for Texans fans. Tell me what the lion's secondary will be like if indeed Nico Collins and Tankdale are the main two guys that CJ Stroud can throw to on Sunday.

Yeah, they're secondary. is a lot better. They got two guys playing great at safety right now. Kirby Joseph and Brian Branch are two of the highest rated safeties if you look at PFF or one of those sites. They've been outstanding. And Terry and Arnold, their rookie first round pick, has gotten better. Carlton Davis, a veteran, has been a great ad for them. Ameek Robertson, a veteran that they signed as a free agent, has been solid as a nickel. So look, their secondary is good. It's worlds better than it was last year. But, again, Again, I think the equalizer is if you can't pressure Stroud into throwing the ball, maybe a little bit before he wants to, or at least force him to get it out of there,

and he's got a lot of time back there, a lot of quarterbacks in this league are going to pick you apart, and he's certainly one of them. So that's one of the things I'm watching in this game. Look, we saw what happened last time out against the Jets. He got roughed up, that offensive line, in particular in the middle, where the Lions do have some strength with DJ Reeder and Aline McNeil. Houston's been vulnerable there. So the Lions have to find a way to impact him

or else he can make these receivers into big play guys, and that can be problematic for Detroit. So I think if you're looking at this game, that's something to keep an eye on. Is Detroit getting a pass rush or is Houston able to function offensively with Stroud kind of having time back there? And if that is, that that's problematic for Detroit.

Well, the reality is, Dan, as we speak here in the middle of the day, it's the $64,000 question. Is Nico just practicing, or is he going to try to play on Sunday? We'll obviously know more in the next 24 hours. The last time a Detroit team played a Houston team. It was two and out for the Tigers over the Astros. I've got the Pistons Rockets on Sunday.

You've got the Texans and Lions. This Detroit Houston series, with all these teams, have been elevated here in the last 30 days or so. Yeah, it's fun. And then, you know, the Houston's got a nice job. with their basketball team, the Pistons, I think, kind of looked at, fans looked at those two franchises, it's kind of moving at the same time.

And last year, obviously Houston moved a lot further than Detroit. So we're hoping to catch up in that regard, and, you know, the Astros have kind of done some things that the Tigers would like to, and the Lions know they've got a tough game coming up this week. So it's all good fun. Safe travels this weekend, my friend. Thank you very much for joining me.

A great conversation. And, again, thanks for joining us here on the show this afternoon. Have a great weekend and a great call. I appreciate. Have a good time in Detroit, and we'll look forward to being there as well. Very good. Dan Miller with Fox 2 and the voice of the Detroit Lions with us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross.