Accepting praise isn't natural for Jared Goff when he's not sure he deserves it. While he's happy the Lions have won two in a row, he wasn't up to his own standard in either of those games. Namely, he hurt his team by throwing a couple picks. So when he was asked Wednesday on the 97.1 The Ticket about the idea that he's playing the best football of his career, Goff said, "It’s funny, because I don’t think I played that great last week and the end of the Atlanta game I don’t feel like I played that great."
"But yeah, as a total in the last 20 games," Goff decided, "I feel like I’ve been playing the best ball of my career."
This is not news. Nor is it a revelation from Goff. He's been saying some version of this for the better part of a year. From the moment Ben Johnson took over Detroit's passing game midway through the 2021 season, Goff has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, with a passer rating of 100.6. His passer rating over his two Pro Bowl seasons with the Rams? 100.8.
That was a younger Goff, in an offense meant to hide his weaknesses as much as highlight his strengths. Sean McVay and the Rams didn't put nearly as much decision-making power in Goff's hands as the Lions have, especially before the snap. As Dan Campbell said this offseason, "We ask him to do a lot more, in my opinion, than what they were actually doing out there." The Lions trust Goff in Johnson's offense to make the right checks, the right reads and the right throws.
And when he doesn't, like on the third play of the game last week against the Packers, they trust him to bounce back. Goff responded by leading a crisp, seven-play touchdown drive, capped off by a 24-yard strike to Amon-Ra St. Brown. On the three drives after he's thrown a pick this season, Goff is 10-of-11 for 133 yards and two touchdowns, plus a third on the ground, which equals a passer rating of 155.8. He has been virtually perfect immediately after his three biggest mistakes.
"You just go out and keep playing," said Goff. "Of course I don’t want to keep having to be good at recovering and be good at scoring a touchdown after a pick. That’s not what I’m aiming for. But over the course of a season, bad things are going to happen and how do you respond? How do you make the plays when you have to and stay level-headed? For me personally, I’ve been through a hell of lot more adversity than just throwing a pick in a game, so it’s not too difficult for me to just put my head down and go to the next play."
Looking back on his last 20 games -- the window of time he proposed -- it should not be taken for granted how well Goff has played: 33 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a rating of 100.2. Consider some of his peers, over their last 20 games. Patrick Mahomes has a rating of 100.5. Josh Allen is at 98.5, Joe Burrow at 94.5, Justin Herbert at 94.0 (Matthew Stafford, for those wondering, checks in at 88.9. He now has a lesser rating in LA than Goff has in Detroit. He also has a Super Bowl, so we digress.) It's exceptionally hard to sustain the level of play that Goff has exhibited for nearly two full seasons -- and he's done it after basically being told he'd never do it again.
"What do I attribute it to? Just reps, man," said Goff. "I think you hit a point in your career, and hopefully I can say this again in five years looking back at this, where you’ve had a lot of reps and you’ve seen a lot of things and you know the answers for you’d like to think almost everything. A defense shows you something and you have an answer. You know the percentages of certain throws, you know where the ball should go and then you know when to be creative and push the ball and take that chance.
"All those variables that you play with throughout your career, you hit a point where you start to understand it a little bit greater. It’s just reps and continuing to get better. But I’m nowhere near where I want to be and continue to push myself and see how far I can go."
Goff will never boast the arm strength of the aforementioned quarterbacks, though he's not far off from Burrow. His athleticism is level to that of Stafford, which means you hold your breath when they start running. (But look at Goff go!) He might not fit the factory mold of a franchise quarterback, but he played like one once and he's doing so again. And he's still just 28 years old.
Johnson deserves plenty of credit for maximizing the things Goff does best: diagnosing a defense, getting through his reads and timing his passes to hit receivers in stride. And then stretching the field through play action, where he's always been lethal. Goff is as precise as it gets when he has time in the pocket, and the Lions have insulated him with an elite offensive line.
But Goff deserves credit himself. He has grown up in Detroit, where most of the NFL figured he'd fade out of view. Now he and the Lions can't stay out of the spotlight. Goff is at the controls of a dynamic offense, defying the critics who said -- and keep saying -- he's just another quarterback, a "poor man's Matt Ryan." His retort to Ryan Fitzpatrick on national TV last week resonated with a city that's been kicked while its down. It captured the personality of a team that's done being dismissed.
"We got good players, good coaches, we got a good system here, we got a good culture," said Goff. "It’s all a great place to be."
No, Goff doesn't have it all figured out. But you might remember what Bills cornerback Taron Johnson said about him in the offseason: "A lot of teams would love to have a guy like him as their quarterback. When we played them (last year), I felt like he had an answer for any situation we gave him. To me, that’s what really makes a good quarterback, someone who knows what to do with the ball and does it quickly."
Goff will always have his critics, all of whom likely know less than Johnson, a six-year starting corner in the NFL. He says he doesn't hear them, but their words seem to fuel him. As they well should. Goff said Tuesday that "there will always be haters and lovers," which was only partly true when he got here. Who loved Jared Goff then?
"3-13 was a long year," said Goff.
The Lions are 12-9 since, and Goff is slinging it like one of the game's best quarterbacks. If he keeps playing like this, he'll be looking at an extension next offseason. If he dares to win a playoff game or two, he'll never pay for a drink in this town again. He prefers beer to seltzers, by the way, substance over style, no need for zest.
After Goff's early interception against the Packers, Campbell said he came to the sideline and said, "Bad decision, won’t happen again." He spent the rest of the night playing it cool under the Lambeau lights, one check, one read, one pass at a time.
"It was impressive, man," said Campbell. That’s exactly what I expect out of him. Man, he does that for us, we’re going to be sitting real good."