Trending News: this week new king of Detroit lions…..

OK, so turns out the viral video proclaiming him as such this week is actually more than five weeks old. Goff threw five touchdown passes to lead the Lions past Denver in a Sunday Night Football game last month, then his truck was swarmed by fans as he left the stadium.

He was great that night.

It has nothing on Sunday night.

There’s pressure, and then there’s running onto the field to the sound of a 747 jet engine screaming your name. Yet Goff delivered one of his best games of the season, leading three straight touchdown drives to keep Detroit ahead of the sticks in a fast-starting game, connecting with Sam LaPorta on a fourth-down touchdown pass, then icing the game with passes to David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown that kept Matthew Stafford on the sideline until the clock struck 0:00.

And just like that, the Lions had their first playoff win in 32 years, as Goff raised his hands to the rafters.

“This is the best,” Goff said after a walk-through on Wednesday. “This is what you do it for, is times like this. You work all season, you work all offseason to get to opportunities like this. And we’re here now.”

How, though? How do you play like that at a time like that?

“It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life,” Goff said. “Just pitch and catch.”

What Goff did to the Rams, in that environment, with those stakes, and the weight of a whole city on his capable right arm, is anything but just pitch and catch. But he handled it with such incredible aplomb, you’d be excused for thinking otherwise.

He opened the game by firing a 24-yard missile through three defenders to Josh Reynolds, connected on his first 10 passes overall, and the only misfire he had in his first 16 attempts was a throwaway while under rare duress.

Then with the Lions clinging to a one-point lead as they got the ball back with 4:07 left, Goff moved the sticks once on a catch-and-run to David Montgomery, then again on an 11-yard curl route to St. Brown on the other side of the two-minute warning. And that was that. The Rams had only one timeout left because they had so many issues handling the jet engine up in the stands, and Detroit had won the game.

Goff didn’t even realize it until Detroit sent personnel onto the field for the victory formation.

Like he said, just playing a game of pitch and catch.

You know, in the most pressure-packed moments in three decades of Detroit football.

“Yeah, it feels good,” Goff said. “I mean we’ve been saying it all year, it’s about this team. It has nothing to do with the last 30 years here. And obviously, that’s the case for the city and the fans and a lot of you guys, but to us, it’s about us and winning games and being in a spot now in the playoffs where we can continue our season every week and have those chances is important.”

Goff finished 22 of 27 passing for 277 yards against Los Angeles, which actually makes him the sixth-leading passer in Lions playoff history. His passer rating of 121.8 was a franchise playoff record.

My, how bad this team has been.

But with each passing win, this all becomes less about overcoming historical heartbreak and more about just winning football games. Next up is a date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round, a team the Lions beat 20-6 back in October.

Goff enjoyed his most productive game of the season in Tampa, throwing for a season-high 353 yards while connecting on touchdown passes to St. Brown (28 yards) and Jameson Williams (45 yards). But the Buccaneers have come a long way since, winning six of their last seven games and not allowing so much as a single third-down conversion in their wild-card rout against the spiraling Eagles.

They also have one of the best run defenses in the league, and held Detroit to a season-low 40 yards in the first matchup. Of course, Detroit didn’t have Jahmyr Gibbs that day because of a groin injury, and lost David Montgomery in the first half because of a rib injury. Gibbs and Montgomery have gone on to become one of the best 1-2 combinations in the league, both have gained at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage, and both are at full strength heading into the rematch.

But Tampa is most stout up front, pronouncing the need for Goff to be at his best again.

If last Sunday is any indication at all, he’ll be up for the moment, chaos and all.

“I’ve been doing it my whole life,” Goff said. “I don’t know, it’s just football. It’s fun. And I don’t know what chaos you’re talking about.”

Goff might not be king of Detroit yet. But keep this up against Tampa and beyond, and he’ll be fitted for a crown soon enough.