49ers - 34, Lions - 31
Q. A lot of times this year you guys have been able to battle back through adversity, but some of the drops, not being able to get some conversions, was that just a little bit uncharacteristic of you guys at a most inopportune time in the second half?
JARED GOFF: I've been battle tested all year, and that game wasn't too big. It wasn't like they were superior through every play. We hang with those teams. We feel like we should have won the game, obviously. But, yeah, no, I don't think it was anything we've done all year up to this point, being able to not do what we want to do on offense in the second half and obviously lose the game for a variety of reasons.
Yeah, you tip your hat to San Francisco, and they played well in the second half.
Q. What do you feel like changed for you guys in the second half specifically? What did you feel like changed?
JARED GOFF: Momentum changed pretty quickly. They scored. We didn't convert the fourth down. They scored again. We turned the ball over. That little sequence right there makes it tough. But we were still in the lead, I believe, at that point.
And I had plenty of opportunities to still win it there at the end and just came up short. I struggle finding the words to totally encapsulate how or why, but I do know I'm proud of this team and proud of these guys and proud to be a part of it.
No quarter, half play defines any of us. And unfortunately they were better than us today.
Q. On that same thread, Josh Reynolds has meant so much to your career. He's been so reliable for this team for years. He had two tough ones today that killed drives. Do you have to say anything to him to express continued appreciation for him?
JARED GOFF: Josh is a stud. I got no -- no. He made a mistake. We had plenty of mistakes out there. I missed throws. I took sacks. He made a mistake, and it happens. He's an absolute stud.
Q. What were the emotions for you after the game in such a journey with this team, and obviously you're back at home, to have this chance. You've been to the Super Bowl. You understand how hard it is to get here. To have the chance slip away, what was running through your head after the game?
JARED GOFF: I think running through my head this whole postseason and certainly this week was how rare these opportunities are. I've been so fortunate to have two of them.
But a lot of guys go long careers without being in these spots. So I was very aware of how hard it is and didn't take it for granted.
Now with that said, that sucks. What are my emotions? I don't know, it sucks, and pretty devastated. There's a state of shock a little bit. I just, again, am proud to be a part of this team, and it's hard to juggle those two emotions of being proud of what we've done this year and dealing with the heartache of the loss.
Q. Dan is going to catch a lot of heat for the fourth down decisions. I know how you guys feel about when he keeps the ball in your hand. How much do you think those changed the momentum of the game?
JARED GOFF: I loved them. We've got to convert.
Q. And specifically on the first one, was that throw-off? Was that a drop? How do you view the fourth and two?
JARED GOFF: Which one?
Q. Josh Reynolds, the pass to Josh.
JARED GOFF: We didn't connect. I'll throw a better ball next time.
Q. The emotions are so high right now, and I think we appreciate the devastation even though we can't fully grasp it, but you go into an offseason, you'll have to do it all over again. It's the nature of the business, you have to restart. What is your process?
You've never won a Super Bowl so you have you to go through this every year. What's your process to kind of mentally reset and get ready to charge again?
JARED GOFF: I don't know. I'll give you a better answer later in the week. I have no idea.
Q. You have some of the young guys this season, from LaPorta to Gibbs to J-Mo, some of the young guys. How much do you look forward to them having this experience -- I know it's tough right now -- but what they can take from a season like this, take from these type of games, those guys in the future, this young nucleus going forward?
JARED GOFF: Those guys are extremely valuable to our team and played well all year. And these experiences are great for everybody. They're great for me as an eight-year vet. So certainly will be great for young guys. Yeah, those two guys have been instrumental for us.
Q. Two things, first the exchange before the Gibbs fumble looked a little off. What happened on that exchange?
JARED GOFF: Yeah, it was just a little off.
Q. And then second, I asked Dan this, but it's too soon I'm sure in the moment to do it, but how long do you think it will take you to appreciate all you accomplished this season, the wins, the success, everything up to this point?
JARED GOFF: I don't know. And I probably could give you a better answer later in the week. But I don't know. It's hard. Like I mentioned, you're juggling a handful of emotions, and knowing that getting this far is an accomplishment, but losing this game is devastating.
And it doesn't feel good. And you walk off the field, you see them celebrating and knowing the plays to be had out there for us that weren't made and you think that should be us celebrating this win.
It's hard. I don't know how to best answer that. But it is hard to juggle both of them. And like I said earlier, at the beginning of this, I think they're a great team and so are we. And they beat us today, but we've got a lot of great pieces in there and expect to continue to be playing winning football for quite some time.
Q. As solid as the first half was, couldn't ask for much more, do you think if you could get one more in the third quarter you might have them?
JARED GOFF: Yeah, I think that little swing that we talked about, if one of those things goes the other way, yeah, it would have been a different game. Now, again, they're a damn good team and they were going to fight back regardless.
But, yeah, we didn't make enough plays in that second half to capitalize on the lead we had got in the first half.
Q. I think some people like to look at the fourth-down decisions as analytics. Fans maybe look at it as trying to stem momentum. As a player, how do you factor --
JARED GOFF: Love it.
Q. What's it like playing for a coach that always wants to --
JARED GOFF: Love it. Keep us out there. Love it. We should convert.
Q. What's it mean overall to a team when a coach does that all year long?
JARED GOFF: Yeah, he believes in us. He believes in us. And I don't know what the numbers are, but we had a lot of big-time conversions this year that changed games. And I don't know what we were today. I don't know -- I know we had the two we didn't convert. I don't know if we had any others we did.
But it can change a game if you convert them, and we didn't. And that's part of the reason why we lost.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports