Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed all 18 of his passes in Monday’s home win against the Seattle Seahawks, setting an NFL record for completions.
While Detroit’s defense has been overlooked, the biggest thing about Detroit’s 42-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks is that it could have been the best of the program.
No, we’re not suggesting a touch of gray for the silver, black and blue boys of Honolulu, but let’s at least say goodbye for next week. Talk about a stunt that looks like momentum. Then again, maybe an attack that keeps building from scratch should be rewarded with a short break before a hopeful operation.
“I was confident it would happen,” Goff said after the game. “I thought the first half last week showed us who we are. … To be able to have a full game that feels like that, that’s what you want.”
Goff connected on the first 14 passes of a 20-13 victory at Arizona in Week 3 before finishing 18-for-23 for 196 yards and two scores. The streak marked his longest shutout in a nine-year career.
It also gave encouragement. Goff was a combined 52-for-83 through the first two weeks of the season, passing for 524 yards but throwing three interceptions for just one TD.
On Monday, Goff was consistent as he added two more touchdown passes and another score.
Yes.
As the Lions marched midway through the third quarter, Goff handed off the ball to David Montgomery, who then moved out of the backfield to the left sideline.
Montgomery threw the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who threw the well… dribbled past a Seattle quarterback into Goff’s arms for a 7-yard TD.
“I’m fired up,” said Goff, who threw the ball into the sticks. “We have been cooking that thing for a long time. I think this is the first time I have participated in the work.”
Maybe it’s worth it for Goff to shoot the ball into the Ford Field faithful without getting dumped.
At the end of the night, Lions coach Dan Campbell distributed game balls to safety Kerby Joseph and wide receiver Jameson Williams. The latter caught a 70-yard TD pass from Goff, who didn’t get the game ball, perhaps because Campbell is back from taking Goff as effectively as he was given.
“I just gave the ball to somebody else, so I feel bad,” Campbell said. “I knew he played a tough game. I didn’t know he was perfect. I didn’t know he was 18 to 18, but I knew he played very well. You could feel it. He really found his rhythm early.”
It’s hard to criticize Campbell or call him naive. It’s not like baseball, where teammates traditionally leave a perfect game at the end of the dugout, undisturbed, even though it’s always in full view.
In soccer, scoreboard operators occasionally flash live images of the home offense on the field, suggesting that the team would like a relative silence, please and thank you. The message of the song “Silence: Abuse at work” comes to mind.
When ‘D’ takes the field again, however, the loud shouting and clapping continues.
With Detroit off to a 3-1 start and its first win against Seattle since 2012, fans on Monday might have thought the night was almost perfect without noticing that Goff was in sight at the point of the box.
Goff admitted that he was concerned that a pass he threw out of bounds in a game that would later be considered an offensive pass interference.
It didn’t happen.
With that, Goff can rest before looking to extend his streak in two weeks when the Lions visit Dallas.