PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jared Goff tried to find the positives for the Lions — such as, a 40-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams — that seemingly meant little in a loss when an offense takes an oh-fer on fourth downs.
Goff and the Lions fizzled on fourth.
Try, 0 for 5.
“The fourth downs were the whole thing,” Goff said. “I don't know what we were on third down.”
Don't look at the stat sheet, Jared.
Try, 3 for 13 on third downs.
The Lions failed time after time to get a first down that could have sustained a drive or led to a score against an Eagles defense that turned in a masterpiece. Goff threw for only one touchdown and the failures on fourth doomed the Lions in a 16-9 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday night.
“You'd like to think if we got a fourth down or two, it changes the game,” Goff said.
The Eagles pressured Goff into his worst game of the season, only a week after he threw for 320 yards and three TDs in win at Washington. He was just 14 of 37 passing for 255 yards — with one touchdown and one interception — and his 37.8 completion percentage was the worst of his 10-year career. He entered Sunday completing a league-high 74% of his passes.
Goff was 7 of 25 passing in the second half, the 28% on completions were the lowest in a second half for any quarterback with at least 20-plus attempts since Houston's Brian Hoyer in 2015 (26.1%).
True, the Lions played without tight end Sam LaPorta — placed on the injured list ahead of the game with a back injury — yet even he couldn't have bumped those brutal third- and fourth-down conversations to a competitive number.
The Lions entered averaging 31.4 points per game but scored only one touchdown against the Eagles.
Most of the offensive struggles could be pinned on the Eagles.
Defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis combined for five batted passes. Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips had five tackles, a sack and four QB pressures.
Lions coach Dan Campbell replaced offensive coordinator John Morton as the play-caller last week. Campbell wasn’t ready to say it was a permanent move, although he called plays again against the Eagles.
Campbell wasn’t much of an improvement.
‘I didn’t help those guys," Campbell said. “I hate that.”
The Lions’ notable failure came late in the third quarter while trailing 13-6 after Jared Goff connected with Jahmyr Gibbs for a 42-yard gain that took the ball to the Eagles 22. The Lions went on to get a first-and-goal at the 8, but they turned the ball over on downs.
“We get in the red zone, we have to score a touchdown,” Campbell said. “We can't get away with not scoring there.”
Gibbs finished with 107 yards receiving.
Goff hit Williams for a 40-yard score that tied the game at 6-all late in the second quarter. Williams celebrated by jumping onto the goal post padding and bear-hugging the upright, which earned him a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
On a blustery night in Philly, those lost yards cost the Lions when Jake Bates was wide right on the 48-yard extra point. Bates did kick a 54-yard field goal with 1:58 left.
“That's not going to be the norm, what happened today,” Campbell said of overall offensive inefficiency. “I don't believe that's going to be here to stay.”
The Lions once failed to convert any of six fourth-down attempts in a 2022 game against Washington, the most failed attempts in any NFL game since at least 1991.
The Lions' offense cost them a win in Philadelphia and —- at least temporarily — a spot in the NFC playoff standings. The Super Bowl champion Eagles stand atop the NFC at 8-2 and the 49ers (7-4) hold the final playoff spot. The Lions host the New York Giants on Sunday.
“I believe this is the best thing for us,” Campbell said. “We're going to learn from this. We're going to get better. We're going to adjust. We'll be hitting our stride when other teams are going to hit their adversity.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs (0) runs with the ball during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) throws during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff throws during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try barring President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028 in a move that could also have implications for the World Cup being hosted by the U.S. this summer.
The proposal, on the agenda for next Tuesday's meeting of the global drug-fighting watchdog's executive committee, is the latest maneuver to come out of a yearslong refusal of the U.S. government to pay its annual dues to WADA. The refusal is part of the American government's unanimous, bipartisan protest of the agency's handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other issues.
The Associated Press learned of the agenda item through correspondence it obtained between WADA and European officials involved in the agency's decision-making. Two others with knowledge of the agenda confirmed the existence of the rules proposal to AP; they were not authorized to speak publicly about the agenda, which has not been released publicly.
WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said “there is nothing new here,” noting that discussions related to the issue of what to do about governments withholding funding have been ongoing since 2020 and aren't directly related to the U.S.
The proposal was, in fact, first brought up in 2024, when U.S. authorities successfully lobbied for its rejection. The U.S. has since lost its seat on the executive committee.
“In spite of WADA’s increasing threats, we continue to stand firm in our demand for accountability and transparency from WADA to ensure fair competition in sport,” said Sara Carter, the director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The rule, if passed, would figure to be mostly symbolic, given the limits an international sports federation could have on the president of a country attending an event inside his own borders.
“I have never heard of a $50-million-budget Swiss foundation being able to enforce a rule to, for example, prevent the United States president from going anywhere,” said Carter's predecessor at ONDCP, Rahul Gupta, who was on the WADA executive committee two years ago and led the movement to reject the proposal. “And the next question you have to ask is: How are you going to enforce it? Are they going to post a red notice from Interpol? It’s ludicrous. It’s clear they have not thought this through.”
In a news release after this story published, WADA said the AP story was “entirely misleading," focusing on Fitzgerald's statement to the AP that if proposals being discussed were "introduced, given that the rules would not apply retroactively, the FIFA World Cup, LA and Salt Lake City Games (in 2034) would not be covered.”
Fitzgerald's only answer to three emails from AP seeking clarification on his initial response — specifically about how a rule that had not yet been adopted could or couldn't be applied retroactively on events that are scheduled for the future — was: "I’m trying to say that it would not apply retroactively so those events would not be covered. Given that and the next meeting of the Board being scheduled for November, I don’t see how it could come into play for this year’s World Cup.”
The next meeting of the Foundation Board, which would make the ultimate decision, isn't scheduled until November. But a WADA response last month to a question about potential timing of the rule's passage from the European authorities said: “The proposal could be implemented without undue delay. If necessary, the Foundation Board could consider the proposal by circular or within the context of an extraordinary meeting.”
According to a draft of the proposal, the rule would apply to governments that have not paid dues by Jan. 31 of the year after they’re billed. The U.S. hasn’t paid its WADA dues since 2023. There was no mention of “retroactivity” or lack thereof in the document the executives are considering.
The proposal calls for a three-tiered set of sanctions for countries that don't pay dues. In the U.S. case, that amounts to around $3.7 million from last year, plus $3.6 million it didn't pay in 2024. Among the most extreme sanctions include “government representatives being excluded from participation in major events such as World Championships and Olympic & Paralympic Games.”
That would include Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and members of Congress, who recently approved hundreds of millions in funding for security and other logistics for the World Cup and LA Games.
Representatives from the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee did not respond to emails from AP seeking comment on how a ban on Trump and other U.S. officials might be enforced.
WADA's budget was pegged at $57.5 million for 2025. It receives half its funding from the IOC and the other half from governments across the globe. Contributions from the governments are loosely based on the size of their athletic teams, and the U.S. has always paid one of the biggest bills.
This squabble has been festering since the first Trump administration, rooted in America's distrust of the global anti-doping system, which came under international scrutiny first for its handling of a Russian doping scandal dating to before the Sochi Games in Russia in 2014.
Then, in 2024, news came of 23 Chinese swimmers — some of them on the team that went to the Paris Olympics — who were allowed to compete despite testing positive. WADA accepted the Chinese doping regulator's theory that the athletes had been contaminated by traces of banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen.
The ONDCP and Congress under both the Trump and Biden administrations have withheld the payments to WADA.
In the most recent flare-up, the government restricted payment until WADA subjected itself to an independent audit. WADA defended its auditing practices and, at the Milan Cortina Games last month, once again called on the U.S. to pay the dues.
Now, the agency looks for more leverage in its attempts to collect.
“This initiative is aimed at better protecting WADA’s funding so that it can deliver on its mission to protect clean sport,” said Fitzgerald, the spokesman for WADA. “If WADA’s funding is cut, it is ultimately athletes who will suffer. Indeed, athletes (including those on WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board) have continuously expressed their support for this initiative.”
Associated Press reporter Darlene Superville contributed from Washington.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents President Donald Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, Pool, File_
