Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery opened his weekly press conference last week by praising the offensive line for paving the way against the Cardinals before noting, "The one run, it was absolutely amazing. You don't get a chance to see many runs like that."
The run that came to mind was David Montgomery's surf session, where a pile of players lifted and propelled him several extra yards. Dan Campbell called it "mother's milk for a baby" and "food for the soul."
"I know the one you guys think I'm talking about," Montgomery said with a smirk. "But I'm talking about Jared Goff's run to close the game."
"I gave the backs hell," he said. "Like, 'How can you be outdone right there by JG?' He did a helluva job right there, and he got down. Probably the only thing that was more impressive was that first-down signal that he threw up. I've never seen him show that type of emotion in that setting."
Known strictly for his arm, Goff sealed the Lions' win over the Cardinals with his legs. On 2nd and 8 with under two minutes to play, he faked a handoff to David Montgomery, got the defense moving to the left, then rolled out to his right and beat linebacker David Gardeck -- who had picked him off earlier in the game -- in a footrace to the sticks. A footrace! Goff slid upon reaching the line to gain, popped up and pointed emphatically downfield.
"I loved it," said Amon-Ra St. Brown, the authority in the Lions locker room on celebrations. "We gotta get him something new this week."
It was the third game in a row to kick off the season where Goff rushed for a key first down. Do the Lions have a mobile quarterback!?
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson grinned: "There’s no question."
“That’s right," said Goff, "I’ve been hiding it for eight years and now in my ninth I’ve decided to pull it out. No, we do joke about it, but I do think if I can get one first down with my legs a game, maybe it’s two, that’s kind of a big thing for us on third down if I can scramble and pick one up. I’ve gotten one in the first three games, so I try to do that every game, find a way to get one. It certainly helps us.”
No one would ever mistake Goff for being fleet of foot. If, say, Lamar Jackson is like a gazelle, Goff "looks like a giraffe," said linebacker Alex Anzalone, with love. It can be an adventure when he leaves the pocket. Defenders lick their chops. Former Seahawks safety Richard Sherman nearly decapitated Goff as a rookie when Goff made an ill-advised scamper for the pylon. (“There was a little disrespect in his running style," said Sherman, of course. "He was acting like he was getting a freebie to the end zone.”)
"It does look like Jared’s never ran before," said defensive tackle Alim McNeill, trying not to laugh. "He got that first down, though. That’s all that matters to me."
"It’s funny to see," said running back Jahmyr Gibbs. "Oh my god, it’s hilarious. But he gets there. He might not get there fast, but he gets there."
"If I had to describe (his running style) -- I don’t know," said offensive tackle Penei Sewell, choosing his words carefully. "It’s very unique, let me just say that."
"He moves so gracefully," guard Graham Glasgow deadpanned. "I don’t know if I would even really say he runs. He just, like, glides. And before you know it, he’s picked up, like, six yards.
"And you’re like, Wow.'"
Goff is the first to self-deprecate. But he meant it when he said he's been training the "two fast-twitch muscles" that he has. He's spent more time recently working on his mobility and his "speed in general," abiding by the old philosophy that if you don't use it, "you'll lose it." In his final season with the Rams, Goff, then 26, ran for a career-high 12 first downs. He's gaining ground on himself as he closes in on 30.
"I’m not getting any younger and as time goes on, you’re fighting that battle of making sure you’re still running, especially as a quarterback, actively running and doing it in the offseason, doing it in-season, because at practice I really don’t. So I have to actively put myself into some drills that make me run and get those fibers and those fast-twitch muscles going -- as many as I have," Goff said.
Jameson Williams, maybe the fastest player in the NFL, smiled wide when asked about his new mobile quarterback.
"That’s cool. That’s real cool, seeing that. Last week he actually won us the game by doing that. In the first two games, it was two big plays, two big first downs that we needed. That one last week was the best one, to me. It was a designed pass but he said, 'I’ma take it myself.’ It was right there for him and he just took it. I like that in him," said Williams.
There is something to this. The Lions aren't about to start running the read option, but Goff is "doing a great job of extending plays when we need it," said St. Brown. "Obviously that’s not his game, running for firsts, but if he has to do it and teams are just going to drop everyone and play man and let him run, then why not?"
"If stuff’s not open," said Glasgow, "it’s nice to see that he’s just keeping it on the ground and trying to move the sticks."
And take it from a defensive player: "Nothing is worse," said McNeill, "than when you got 3rd and 5, 3rd and 6, you got a good position on them and you send the blitz and the quarterback scrambles for a first down. So I think it’s great that he’s doing that. When he can extend plays like that, you have to account for it now as a defense, whether they think he’s the fastest or not. First down’s a first down."
Johnson, a former quarterback himself, said he's been challenging Goff for the past three years to race him after practice, "and he just declines to do so. So, we’ll see if he comes through. We can see how fast he really is."
And who would win?
"I ain’t never even seen Ben run, not even jog to nothin', so I gotta take my QB," said Williams.
"D-Mo, who you think?" Gibbs called to Montgomery.
Montgomery did not blink: "Ben."
"Jared," said Sewell. "I got my QB."
"I wanna see that," said Gibbs.
Goff is not un-athletic, for the record. He also played baseball and basketball in high school, and his dad is a former MLB catcher. He's got the genes. At the 2016 combine prior to being drafted first overall, Goff posted a 4.82 in the 40, middle of the pack among quarterbacks and a full 0.2 seconds faster than his former backup Nate Sudfeld. Dak Prescott ran a 4.79.
“You train for that for so long, so I was at peak speed at that point," said Goff. "I know Brady ended up running his faster, right? Maybe 10 years from now, I'll be faster, like he is, but I don’t know.”
24 years after clocking a 5.18 at the combine, Tom Brady reran it in retirement and shaved one whole tenth of a second off his time. Maybe Goff is just hitting his stride, as his career picks up steam in Detroit. (Just don't take this theory to Gibbs, who said he's "seen highlights from earlier in his career and he was way faster than he is now. He needs to get back to what he was doing.") If the Lions need a big first down against the Seahawks on Monday night, don't be surprised if ... Jared takes Goff.
"I mean, he’s 3-for-3, so gotta try to make it 4-for-4," said St. Brown.
"That’s the name of the game now," said McNeill, "quarterback who’s mobile."
"You saw the last play of the game, right?" said Aidan Hutchinson, breaking into a grin. "We got the guy."