Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions notched a dominant Week 10 victory this past Sunday, taking down the Washington Commanders with a 44-22 final score at Northwest Stadium.
During the second quarter of this matchup, Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne was ejected for throwing a punch at Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The punch came as retaliation after an initial strike from St. Brown, who was not ejected.
Washington defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw defended his teammate after the game.
“I just felt like, I just felt like in the moment we were being cheated, to be honest,” Kinlaw said. “Daron [Payne] only retaliated because the refs literally saw the first punch, you know what I’m saying. I don’t blame him for the way he reacted, you know, and tempers got to flying. I mean, it is what it is. It’s a physical game. [Expletive] happens. But on my end, I just got to be smarter in certain situations and protect the team.”
On the same play, Kinlaw got in the face of Lions quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff was asked about the interaction during a recent appearance with 97.1 The Ticket.
“Yeah, he was… I don’t know. I don’t know what he was really saying,” Goff said. “He jumped offside, I told him he jumped offside. He said, ‘I know.’ I don’t know why he was so excited about jumping offside, but he was.
“I think that was before or after they punched St. Brown in the face, so I can’t wait to see Louis Riddick break that one down for us this week on Turning Point.”
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The end of Goff’s response referenced a previous controversy related to ESPN analyst Louis Riddick.
After Brian Branch was suspended for punching Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in Week 6, Riddick narrated an “NFL Turning Point” segment painting the Lions safety in a negative light.
“It was a long game for Lions safety Brian Branch, number 32,” Riddick said in the video. “He got burned by [Travis] Kelce’s basketball move. He got showed up by [Patrick] Mahomes. He got juked by Xavier Worthy and took a shot from JuJu Smith-Schuster. The turning point led to Branch’s boiling point.”
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Goff and the Lions clearly haven’t forgotten about this slight from Riddick.
Detroit is 6-3 on the season following Sunday’s win over the Commanders, holding top position in the NFC North. The Lions will look to continue their positive momentum in Week 11’s highly-anticipated “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.