Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff completed all 18 passes in Monday's home win over the Seattle Seahawks, setting an NFL passing record.
While Detroit's defense was weakened on offense, the most important thing about Detroit's 42-29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks is that the schedule arguably could have been more ideal.
No, we're not going for a little gray for the boys in silver, black and Honolulu blue, but let's at least mention our bye next week. Talk about an obvious momentum stunt. Then again, maybe the constant onslaught from a so-so start should have been given a brief respite before a hopeful surge.
“I'm very confident that this will happen,” Goff said after the game. “I think the first half performance last week showed who we are. … To be able to have a complete game and feel like this, that's what you want.
In Week 3, Goff caught the ball on his first 14 passes in a 20-13 win over Arizona State before going 18 of 23 for 196 yards and two scores. It was the longest streak of starts in his nine-year career.
This also gives encouragement. Goff was 52-of-83 passing for an impressive 524 yards through the first two weeks of the season, but had just one touchdown and three interceptions.
Goff didn't turn the ball over Monday while adding two more touchdown passes and another score.
Yes.
When the Lions were midway through the third quarter, Goff handed the ball to David Montgomery and walked from the backfield toward the left sideline.
Montgomery passed the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who passed a perfect pass over the Seattle defender and into the arms of Goff for a 7-yard touchdown.
“I'm excited,” Goff said as he tossed the ball into the stands. “We've been cooking that thing for a long time. I think it was my first touchdown catch in my career.
Perhaps it was fitting that Goff passed the ball to the Ford Field faithful without giving up.
At the end of the night, Lions coach Dan Campbell distributed the game ball to safety Kelby Joseph and wide receiver Jameson Williams. The latter was the receiver of Goff's 70-yard touchdown pass, but Goff didn't catch the game ball, perhaps because Campbell began to take Goff's efficiency for granted again.
“I just gave the game ball to someone else, so I felt bad,” Campbell said. “I knew he had a great game. I didn't realize he was perfect. I didn't know he was really 18-for-18, but I knew he was playing really well. You could feel it. He was really good. I have long since found my own rhythm.
It's hard to blame Campbell, or even say he was distracted. This is unlike baseball, where teammates would traditionally leave a player who might be having a perfect game at one end of the dugout, leaving him undisturbed even though he's still in full view.
At football games, stadium scoreboard operators will occasionally flash playful graphics during home offenses on the field to indicate that the team prefers relative quiet, please and thank you. A message to the tune of “Quiet: Offense at Work” came to mind.
However, once the “D” regained possession of the court, the raucous shouting and clapping resumed.
With Detroit off to a 3-1 start and beating Seattle for the first time since 2012, fans on Monday may have thought the night was nearly perfect, but failed to realize that Goff was truly in the eye of the score.
Goff admitted he was worried about whether an out-of-bounds pass he threw during a game would be ruled an offensive pass interference and not count.
This is not the case.
That way, Goff can rest and then aim to extend his record of keeping the ball off the ground in two weeks when the Lions visit Dallas.