Lions QB makes history against Seahawks

Jared Goff started Week 4 of the 2024 NFL season and wasn't particularly pleased with his performances over the three weeks. After the Detroit Lions' 42:29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, things should be different for him.

Goff put together one of the best games of his career during the Lions' offensive outburst. He was nearly perfect as a passer, completing every throw he made and posting a near-perfect rating while only recording a couple of sacks.

The icing on the cake? Goff also caught the second touchdown of his career on a well-designed trick play that saw Amon-Ra St. Brown throw a pass into the red zone.

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Here's what you need to know about Goff's historic appearance on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks.

Jared Goff stats today

Goff engineered one of the most efficient plays in NFL history in Detroit's 42-29 win over Seattle. He completed all 18 of his passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns in a dominant performance.

Overall, Goff had 299 total yards of offense and three touchdowns as he caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from St. Brown after a well-conceived trick play by coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Goff appeared to stagger naturally on the looping throw that flew just over the head of a Seahawks defender.

Goff's performance was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Seahawks allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game on Monday. He further doubled the 132.3 yards per game that Seattle had allowed through the air and led the Lions to their highest scoring output of the season.

Jared Goff completion percentage

Goff completed 100 percent of his passes against the Seahawks. According to Opta Stats, his 18 passes without an incompletion were the most in NFL history. According to the NFL's Tony Holzman-Escareno, he was also the only quarterback in NFL history to finish a game without an incompletion while throwing at least ten passes.

According to the ESPN broadcast, Goff also became the first player in NFL history to throw for more than 200 yards without throwing an incompletion.

Goff's previous single-game high was his 84 percent mark in a 2021 game against the Chicago Bears. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the contest.

Is Jared Goff the NFL's all-time leader in single games completed?

Despite Goff's stellar performance, he won't be the NFL's all-time leader in single games completed. He managed just two attempts shy of the minimum 20 needed to qualify for the all-time leaderboard.

Has an NFL QB ever had a perfect completion percentage?

No NFL quarterback has had a perfect completion percentage on at least 20 passes in a game. Drew Brees is the league's current record holder with a rating of 96.7 percent. He accomplished this by completing 29 of 30 passes against the Indianapolis Colts in 2019.

Below are the quarterbacks who complete at least 95 percent of their passes in a single game while attempting at least 20 passes.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints: 96.7 percent (2019)
Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers: 96.6 percent (2018)
Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans: 95.7 percent (2018)
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers: 95.2 percent (2023)
Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars: 95 percent (2020)

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Passer rating by Jared Goff

Goff wasn't just denied an NFL record because he was two passes short. Despite his perfect completion rate, he also didn't achieve a perfect passing rate.

Goff had a passer rating of 155.8 during the contest. That was 2.5 points lower than the highest possible passer rating of 158.3.

What is a perfect passer rating?

The NFL's passer rating is graded on a scale of 0 to 158.3, with the latter number representing a quarterback's best performance in a single game. The formula is based on the quarterback's performance in the following categories:

Completion percentage
Yards per attempt
touchdowns per attempt
Interceptions per attempt

Goff's problem appears to be that he averaged a touchdown every nine pass attempts. Had he made three throws during the contest with the same stats in the other areas – which would give him an average of one touchdown every six attempts – he would have achieved a perfect passer rating, according to Pro Football Reference's Passer Rating Calculator.