• The reclamation-project quarterback has become a 2024 story line, highlighted by the job Sam Darnold’s done in Minnesota, and what Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith continue to do in Tampa Bay and Seattle, respectively.
It’s almost enough to make you forget that Jared Goff is in that category, too.
The Detroit Lions’ quarterback gave us all an emphatic reminder Monday, going a historic 18-of-18 for 292 yards and two touchdowns (somehow, his 155.8 passer rating wasn’t a perfect 158.3) in piloting the home team’s prime-time win over the Seattle Seahawks. He hit seven different receivers. He helped continue the surge of 2022 first-rounder Jameson Williams, who’s averaging 22.2 yards per catch and is pacing toward his first 1,000-yard season.
You could almost forget he was one of a number of guys who got paid this offseason, joining Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell among those who got locked up in Detroit. But I didn’t, and watching him last night made me recall talking to him this summer on the changing dynamic the team was facing in going from the hunter to the hunted—and how complacency can sometimes contribute to slipping when you’re everyone’s big game.
Goff swore to me he wasn’t worried about it. Mostly because of what he knew about the guys around him.
“They haven’t changed a bit at all,” Goff said this summer. “It was like nothing happened, when it happened in April. Those guys are as solid and steady as anybody in the league. I’m proud to be their teammate. They’re frickin’ incredible, and they haven’t changed a bit. I don’t think about that at all. If anything, Saint said it one time, if anything it makes him want to go harder. Prove them right. Go win a Super Bowl for this city.
“They’ve rewarded him, rewarded me and some other teammates with some money. Let’s go make them feel like they made the best decision they ever made.”
The Lions have made a lot of good ones, and as for taking everyone’s best shot … they’re 3–1, with the one blemish being a close loss to a very good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.
