Jared Goff or Jordan Love? Who is the best quarterback in the NFC North?
There are so many questions to be answered during the 2024 NFL season.
Around these parts, none is more important.
It’s a comparison of quarterbacks with different styles and backgrounds, which only makes it more intriguing.
This wouldn’t even be a debate were it not for the Thanksgiving Day game last season.
Until that point, the Lions appeared to be in the driver’s seat in the NFC North for years to come.
But in front of a huge audience, 33.7 million viewers, the most ever for a Lions’ Thanksgiving Day game, Love shredded the Lions.
He was 22-of-32 passing for 268 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn’t sacked. His first pass was a 53-yard completion that set the tone. His last act was a 37-yard option run to seal the deal. Love made all the necessary plays.
Conversely, Goff lost three fumbles and the Lions’ offense sputtered.
The Packers were 4-6 entering that game. The Lions were an 8-point favorite.
Green Bay beat Kansas City the following week, and three straight to end the season, to reach the playoffs.
Love was remarkably efficient as the Packers, as a TD underdog, became the first 7th-seed to win a postseason game at Dallas. And the Packers gave San Francisco everything it could handle the following week, too.
The loss to the Packers turned out to be a part of a mini-slump for Goff. He had three interceptions in a defeat to the Bears the previous week. He more than recovered. He performed well, like the rest of the team, from that point forward until the ill-fated second half of the NFC championship game.
Both quarterbacks, despite being rewarded handsomely with exorbitant contract extensions, still have plenty to prove.
Love was a standout for just a short span. Goff has already taken a team to the Super Bowl, but the Lions are loaded offensively. He is working behind the NFL’s best offensive line. Is it the QB or the team?
Love is the superior QB under circumstances less than ideal. He has much better mobility and is an accurate passer, particularly on out routes and fades. He gets the ball out very quickly, and burns opposing teams who blitz.
Goff is a night-and-day performer to the extreme. He quickly becomes a turnover machine when pressured, but is he ever effective when given a little extra time.
Few QBs work the middle of the field better. His accuracy on short throws into tight windows is exceptional.
He is also tough as it comes physically and mentally, as well as poised.
Goff is definitely in the right place at the right time as the Lions’ QB, an ideal fit for the system and personnel.
Love has more to prove than Goff. He will not sneak up on any defense, the Lions’ included, this season. His upside is a bit scary, especially for Lions’ fans.
But it’s definitely game on in a manner unimagined before the Thanksgiving Day game last year.