Nov 25, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) passes the ball during the third quarter against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Jared Goff had a solid-looking game on Thanksgiving Day, and it’s best game he’ll have as a Detroit Lion.
The Detroit Lions suffered their third walkoff loss of the season on Thanksgiving Day, 16-14 as Bears kicker Cairo Santos sent the Ford Field faithful home unhappy. Other than a sack-fumble, Lions quarterback Jared Goff had a solid-looking outing (21-for-25 for 171 yards and two touchdowns).
Goff completed his first 12 passes of the game, including a 39-yard touchdown pass to former Rams teammate Josh Reynolds to open the scoring.
Goff set the record for completion percentage in a Thanksgiving Day game (mininum 20 attempts).
This was the best game Jared Goff will ever play for the Lions
Goff was sacked the one time by the Bears, and he was only hit three times. He made some throws he doesn’t normally make, by pure distance or with a level of anticipation he hasn’t normally shown. Which isn’t to say he threw downfield a lot, but that he did it succesfully at all was something. And there were still moments he didn’t look comfortable and wasn’t particularly accurate. Holding calls also plagued the offensive line, but some of that fell on Goff.
Checkdowns were still the order of the day for Goff, as 19 of his completions (other than the touchdown to Reynolds and the touchdown to T.J. Hockenson) covered a total of 115 yards (6.1 yards per completion, an even 5.0 yards per attempt on those 19 completions and 23 attempts).
Passer rating rewards not throwing interceptions, and completing a high percentage of passes. So it’s no surprise Goff posted a 121.8 passer rating on Thursday. His previous best this season was a 105.0 passer rating in Week 4….against the Bears. That also says a lot about passer rating as a meaningful metric on its own, in a broad sense.
Goff still has not won a game in his career without Sean McVay as his head coach. Eventually, not even McVay could scheme and play-call around his limitations. Anthony Lynn, Dan Campbell, etc. have no chance to scheme and play-call around their quarterback’s limitations. So Thursday’s efficient outing is as good as it’s going to get from Goff no matter how many more games he plays for the Lions.