A week ago, Jared Goff's turnovers were creeping back into the conversation around the Lions. He had committed six in the prior two games, three picks in a narrow win over the Bears and then three fumbles in a loss to the Packers on national TV. He looked, to some, like the quarterback who was dumped by the Rams.
Sunday in New Orleans, he looked like the one resurrected by the Lions. Goff completed just 16 passes for 213 yards, but made precise throws and clutch plays while protecting the football in Detroit's 33-28 win over the Saints. Dan Campbell said it fired him up watching Goff do exactly "what we talked about the last couple of weeks," and exactly what he's done for the better part of two seasons.
"The trick is, take care of the football, be smart (with your) pocket movement, but don't take away (from) what you are," Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "You don’t want to neuter the guy, because he was one of the biggest reasons we had eight wins in the first place."
Against the defense with the second most picks in the NFL, Goff made one ballsy throw after another. His best of the day was a 24-yard seam pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown threaded between two Saints defenders on third down that set up a field goal late in the first half. Campbell commended him for playing "fearless" and continuing to "set strong in the pocket like he has," without opening himself up to more turnovers. You might call it testicular fortitude.
"That’s the hard thing to do," Campbell said. "It’s easy to dial back and say we gotta take care of the football, and then you go into a shell and you’re not even close to the player you were. That last drive, he helped win us the game."
Goff wanted to put it away on the drive prior. On 3rd and long deep in Lions territory, he stepped through a collapsing pocket and whipped an on-the-run throw to David Montgomery that would have been a first down had Montgomery not dropped it. When Detroit's defense got the ball back on downs with some help from Jameis Winston, Goff made sure to keep it.
First, on 3rd and 7 with about three minutes to play, Goff stepped back and ripped a 10-yard completion to Sam LaPorta, despite tight coverage across the middle. The Saints had doubled Amon-Ra St. Brown on the play, so Goff went to his next-favorite target in the rookie tight end: "Sam had a good route on versus man coverage, got some good separation, was able to fit it in there and he made a great catch."
Then, on 3rd and 9 with under two minutes to play and the Saints out of timeouts, Goff again evaded pressure, buying himself just enough time to hit a streaking Josh Reynolds for a 12-yard gain that put the game on ice. Goff, who took a heavy hit as he released the pass, said it was "another play where we expected them to be in some sort of man pressure ... and I had to move a little bit in the pocket and scramble and was able to find Josh for a first down."
No one will ever mistake Goff for a mobile quarterback, but his feet allowed his arm to shine in key moments against the Saints. He laughed and said he hasn't been working specifically on his scrambling technique, though ball security was a point of emphasis for the Lions at practice last week.
"It’s just being aware of where I am in the pocket and trying to make the play when I’m needed to and when my number’s called," said Goff. "I love when they put it in my hand late in the game, done that a handful of times this year, and being able to make the play to seal it."