Jared Goff had an up-and-down first season as a Detroit Lion, but he set or tied two franchise records along the way.
For the first nine games of the 2021 season, Detroit Lions fans were counting the time until they didn’t have to watch Jared Goff play quarterback anymore. But with no other viable options, only injury was going to take him out of the lineup.
That injury came in Week 10, though an oblique strain didn’t take him off the field in that game. He did miss Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns, but Tim Boyle was the right mix of rusty coming off a thumb injury and awful that Goff returned to action on a short week for Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears.
Starting with that Week 12 contest, Goff was among the highest-rated passers in the NFL for the next month. In Week 13, he won NFC Offensive Player of the Week after leading a game-winning drive against the Vikings. Then, coming off a big win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15, he missed Week 16 due to COVID-19 and Week 17 due to a knee injury. Talk about bringing that momentum to screeching halt.
In Week 18 Goff returned, and played well against the Green Bay Packers in a season-ending win (21-for-30, 238 yards, two touchdowns). Over his last five starts, he posted a 107.1 passer rating (third-best in the NFL over that stretch).
Jared Goff set or tied two Lions franchise marks in 2021
According to the Lions PR Twitter, Goff tied the franchise record for completion percentage (67.2 percent) and set the franchise record for interception rate (1.6 percent) this season.
That interception rate was fifth-best in the NFL. His 91.5 passer rating is the highest a Lions quarterback has ever had in their first season with the team.
Internally, the door does not appear to be closed on Goff being the Lions quarterback of the future. If how he played late in the season is a better indicator of how good he can be, the idea of adding more pieces around him this offseason is intriguing.