Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has deep northern California roots. Born in Novato, near San Francisco, he grew up a 49ers fan. He stayed close to home to attend Cal, and followed by that by playing the team he grew up rooting for twice a year as quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams.
Goff had lost his last six matchups against the 49ers before Monday night, of course including last year’s NFC Championship Game loss. After the game, he acknowledged to ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters that “it was personal for us” after that NFC title game loss.
Goff had another excellent performance Monday night, going 26-for-34 for 303 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. It was his fourth straight game with three or more passing touchdowns, the longest streak by a Lions quarterback in the Super Bowl era. Only Bobby Layne had a longer streak in franchise history–five games in 1951.
Over his last seven games, Goff has 20 touchdown passes and just one interception with a 71.7 percent completion rate and a 121.9 passer rating.
Dan Campbell heaps praise on Jared Goff
When asked about how good the Lions offense was on “money downs” against the 49ers, combining to go 11-for-17 on third and fourth down, head coach Dan Campbell praised Goff as an easy tentacle of that.
“Goff played lights-out today,” Campbell said. “And he’s been playing like this. I just feel like he took another step up, which is hard to believe with where he’s been playing.”
Later asked about Goff coming back home and his personal losing streak against the 49ers, Campbell went further to praise his quarterback.
“I know he had a lot of friends and family here, so I know in that regard, that meant something,” Campbell said. “There was a lot that meant something to him. To be able to get a win out here where we didn’t last year, and then the previous history you’re talking about with the Rams, and then having family here, but this is different. This is a different Jared Goff now. He’s different. This guy has developed and matured, and he’s just stepping into his prime. He just continues to get better and better. He’s playing at an ultimate level right now. You find me a quarterback that’s playing better than him in this league right now. I’d love to see it.”
Since he threw five interceptions against the Houston Texans in Week 10, the aforementioned seven-game stretch, Goff leads the NFL in passing touchdowns (20), passing yards (2,318; 331. 1 per game), passer rating (121.9), EPA per drop back and EPA on all drop backs.
Campbell wants you to find a quarterback who’s playing better in the league than Goff is right now, and you’d be hard-pressed to find one.
