Nick Wright does a disingenuous 180 on Jared Goff after the Lions’ win over the Packers

On the Nov. 18 edition of FS1’s “First Things First,” after the Detroit Lions defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11, Nick Wright said the following about Jared Goff.

“I don’t think you can be the best team in the league if you have a civilian at quarterback. I can’t say a team with Jared Goff at quarterback is better than the Chiefs or the Bills. I can’t do that. I don’t think it’s very hard in the modern NFL to win three playoff games in a row, even if it’s a good quarterback. That’s my opinion The Lions.”

This is pretty absurd, lame or not. Goff’s five-interception performance in Week 10 against the Houston Texans was still fairly fresh when Wright expressed this opinion, so it feels like the root is already there.

Goff had a standout performance against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, going 32 of 41 for 283 yards with three touchdowns and one interception (109.7 passer rating). In the three games since Wright called him a “civilian” (code word for “just a guy”?), Goff has completed over 71 percent of his passes with five touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 101.7.

On Friday’s edition of First Things First, Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes discussed the Lions-Packers game and Goff’s MVP candidacy was a topic.

After mentioning where Goff stands in the current MVP odds, Wildes told Wright to “proceed with caution” (I certainly knew what Wright would say based on pre-show meetings) and “don’t do it.” . Wright simply wanted to “answer the question.”

“I think Jared Goff will win the MVP,” Wright said. “I’m not a smartass, I’m not sarcastic and I can… I’ll lay out how I think it’s going to happen.”

After Broussard asked a bit about whether Goff was currently his pick for MVP, Wright continued.

“I’m not saying I think he should do that, otherwise he would be mine now,” Wright said. “I say I’m texting my gambling group chat today and you can give Goff a 10-to-1 ratio and I love it. I think it’s down to 8-to-1 right now, and here’s why.”

“I think the Bills are very likely to lose to the Rams this week,” Wright added. “And next week, with Nance and Romo on the phone, we’ll get Goff-Allen. And they’ll give both of their numbers at some point during this show. And Goff is totally running away with it.”

Wildes asked for a graphic of Goff’s numbers and his league-wide ranking during the Lions’ 11-game winning streak, then Wright continued his observation.

“And his numbers are much better compared to Allen’s,” Wright said. “And I think the Lions win this game, and all of a sudden Josh Allen has lost two in a row…”

Wright pointed out what might work against Eagles running back Saquon Barkley in the home stretch of the MVP race (low stakes against bad teams since there’s still a tough opponent left).

Wright pulled out a strange clapping-hands prop that Wildes clearly doesn’t particularly like, saying that if Goff wins MVP, he should get a “round of applause.”

“I think he should win it (MVP), Wright said. “Look for someone on TV today saying they’re going to win MVP.”

Within three weeks, Wright went from calling Goff a “civilian” who can’t be the quarterback of the NFL’s best team to saying he would be MVP. Opinions may change based on new information, but Goff hasn’t done anything lately other than what he’s done all season. Wright’s change of heart, which took a dubious turn at the end, turns out to be disingenuous in the end.