Key stats: Threw for 4,575 yards (second in league) and 30 touchdowns (fourth) while completing a career-high 67.3% of his passes (fifth) in the regular season; finished with a QB rating of 97.3 (seventh); averaged 7.6 yards per attempt (seventh); threw a pick on 1.7% of his passes (ninth best); while kept clean in the pocket, Goff had 28 touchdowns, just three picks and a QB rating of 116.1 (second); while under duress, Goff had six touchdowns, nine picks and a passer rating of 61.0 (18th); added another 837 passing yards in the playoffs (119 yards more than anyone else) while completing 69.4% of his passe
Breakdown: You can’t go from 0-10-1 to the NFC Championship game in a little over two years without doing a whole lot of things right, and Brad Holmes has connected on one home run after another since taking over in Detroit. From Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson at the top of the draft to Amon-Ra St. Brown on Day 3, Alex Anzalone on a near-minimum contract, Josh Reynolds on waivers, turning a seventh overall pick into All-Rookies Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta … I mean, you get it. Pretty good stuff.
But among all Brad Holmes’ good deeds in Detroit, his best remains his first.
Holmes took over in Detroit with a standing trade request from the best quarterback in franchise history. That’s a difficult challenge for any incoming general manager. But Holmes turned Matthew Stafford into Ifeatu Melifonwu, Jameson Williams, Josh Paschal, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and Brodric Martin, which is pretty good stuff. He also accepted Los Angeles’ trade request because he believed Jared Goff could be saved from his career nosedive with the Rams. Now three years later, Goff is playing better football than ever before, and even outdueled Stafford during the Lions’ first playoff win in 32 years, all while the crowd sang his name.
Stafford got his ring in Los Angeles. Good for him.
But it’s hard to imagine that trade going any better for Goff and Detroit, too.
Goff immediately began to play good football after Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson took over the offense in the second half of the 2021 season, then was named to the Pro Bowl last season before turning down the all-star game this past season. He led the No. 2 passing attack in the league while posting the highest completion percentage of his career (67.3) and ranking among the league’s 10 best quarterbacks in all the major metrics. He was especially good on timing routes with Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was named first-team All-Pro, and Sam LaPorta, who enjoyed one of the great rookie seasons ever by a tight end.
Yes, we get it, Goff is not the same kind of playmaker as Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes. He never will be. He also threw five picks and lost four fumbles during a difficult four-game stretch in November and December. Detroit went 2-2 in those games. The dude’s not perfect.
But Goff continues to prove time and time and time again that given a clean pocket and someone to throw the ball at, he can make that throw as well as almost anybody. He turned around the Cal Golden Bears, for goodness sake, then took the Rams all the way to the Super Bowl in his second year as a full-time starter. The dude is a winner. And he needed just three years to start winning in Detroit unlike almost anyone before him.
Down the stretch, Goff threw nine touchdown passes and just two picks while leading the Lions to a 3-1 finish. (And that lone loss came in controversial fashion in Dallas.) Then he was lights out during the biggest games in Detroit in generations, throwing three touchdowns during the march to the conference championship game while playing turnover-free football. His 837 passing yards in the playoffs continue to lead all players, and by more than 100 yards at that. And while the Lions did cough up a 17-point lead against San Francisco that killed their season at the doorstep of the Super Bowl, Goff played well that night too.
“When he came to us, I always had belief,” Holmes said. “So him doing what he did this past year, or even the year before, it’s not a surprise to us. I just know how he’s wired. I know the talent he has, I know the leadership he has, I know his mental and physical toughness, I know what he’s made about and I think his peers, and definitely his teammates recognize the same things. So, just happy that what he’s done and just couldn’t be more proud of everything he’s achieved.”
Let’s be serious here. Jared Goff has been outstanding in Detroit, and silenced all doubts about his place as QB1. He’s entering a contract season in 2024, but says he wants to remain here long term, and the Lions have both the interest and cash to make it happen. At this point, an extension that could approach $50 million annually feels like an inevitability.
