DETROIT — Jared Goff trusts his football knowledge enough to know he is seeing something unique, something special, in Aaron Donald, the Rams’ human wrecking ball whose ferocity on defense has been so dominant and so influential that there is no longer a justifiable reason to keep him out of the discussion for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.



In an era where the game has been constructed and adjudicated to allow offenses to thrive more than ever, the best player in football is Donald, a defensive tackle who stands a shade over six foot and who fitly carries around his 285 pounds in a way that makes him seem small compared to the mammoths he lines up alongside and against.



Yet, as Donald showed once again on Sunday by coming up with huge plays to lead the Rams to a 30-16 win over the Detroit Lions — a victory that secured a second straight NFC West Division title and a one-game lead over the New Orleans Saints for home-field advantage...