Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff silences doubters with perfection

Jared Goff set an NFL record by completing all 18 of his passes in the Detroit Lions' 42-29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

The quarterback managed 292 yards and two touchdowns. To top it off, he even caught his first NFL touchdown pass on a spectacular trick play – reminiscent of the “Philly Special” – that the Lions call “Alcatraz.”

Even after all that, Dan Campbell didn't give him a game ball.

“Yeah, well, I just gave the game ball to someone else, so I feel terrible right now,” the Lions head coach said with a smile, before admitting that he did the most Dan Campbells and Jameson Williams and Kerby game balls gave Joseph for their outstanding, decisive play and to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

You can't blame Campbell. In the post-match euphoria that featured numerous superlative performances, it can be easy to overlook the guy who always tends to look pretty good.

That is, until recently. In the first three games, Goff was not his usual efficient and productive self. Before Monday, he had three touchdown passes with four interceptions and a passer rating of 79.2 – one of the worst in the NFL this season.

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Let's be honest for a moment. This couldn't continue because the Lions' identity is based on their offense. The improved play on defense in the first three games has been a bonus, but for the Lions to get where they want to go, it starts with the offense.

That said, it really starts with Goff. The offense leaned on David Montgomery and the running game early, but when the Lions needed points they turned to Goff and he stepped up his game.

Even though the Lions hadn't scored more than 26 points in any of their first three games and were held to 16 points in a home loss to Tampa Bay, Goff sensed the breakthrough was coming after a stellar first half in Arizona last week when he was 12 of 12 with two touchdowns.

“We knew it was coming offensively, everyone knew that,” Campbell said. “And that's why you can't worry about this and that, you can't panic, you just work and clean everything up.

“We talked about the red zone and the things that were designed and the work we put in from the players and coaches. That's what you do and we worked on it and it showed. This is how we found our rhythm.

“Every week will be different. It was a bit like a track and field competition, whereas the first few games were more of that low scoring variety.”

Yes, it was definitely some kind of track and field meet – like in the 1980s and 1990s when everyone was on steroids. The teams combined for more than 900 yards of offense, 59 first downs and 10 touchdowns.

But the Lions were on top all night. They sprinted to the top and never gave up. Even though it remained a one-point game until the fourth quarter, the Lions appeared to be in charge thanks to Goff and the offense, which ran and passed effectively – and at times spectacularly.

A lot of the credit, of course, goes to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who had a great game that kept a good defensive team guessing all night long when it wasn't busy covering Jameson Williams' contrail on a 70-yard touchdown or Goff about his surprising catch in the end zone.

The thing about Goff is that he needed this game more than anyone to silence the questions that were coming up. It wasn't yet time for this “YES-RED GOFF!” Chants were replaced with “Jared Goff?” Questions from quietly worried fans, but it was close.

This game silenced all sorts of doubters. Although Goff is as confident and poised as an athlete can be, I have it on good authority that he is also human and can feel human things like relief from a breakout game.

“Yeah, you’ll feel good about a performance like that,” Campbell said. “I don't want to speak for Jared, but I would bet that he knew he was going to have a good game.

“He just did it because – I'll go back to – last week he felt like he was getting back into balance, getting back to center. Take what's there, be smart with the football, play fast, play efficiently and before: “Maybe I'll try to do more than I have to do.” ”

When I asked Goff before Monday if he was concerned about his subpar stats and the performance of the offense, he gave the answer I expected.

“I was very confident about what happened,” he said. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen or when it’s going to open up like it did for us tonight. I thought the first half last week was a reflection of who we are and it was important for us to be able to build on that this week.”

It's a testament to Goff and his performance in Detroit that he led the Lions to a 2-1 record and somehow it wasn't enough. Before Monday, he had 81 touchdowns to 31 interceptions and nearly 13,000 yards passing with a 66.5% completion rate and a 95.5 passer rating in just over three years with the Lions.

Those are fantastic numbers, and in some cases even better than what he had in five years with the Rams. On Monday, he put up more numbers – breaking Arizona's Kurt Warner's NFL record set in 2005 by completing all 10 of his passes against Houston.

He showed good sensitivity in the pocket and on the move, making a Matthew Stafford-like pass across his body to Amon-Ra St. Brown near the goal line. Then St. Brown returned the favor by throwing a 7-yard TD pass to his quarterback.

Goff didn't know why Johnson called his trick-play TD “Alcatraz,” but in the context of the game and how the offense operates, it made perfect sense. For the most distressing feature of the infamous prison was its proximity to a beautiful, bustling city across the Bay from San Francisco. The prisoners just had to free themselves to experience the nearby wonders they dreamed of.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

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