Quarterback Jared Goff looked great in the first half of Monday’s game against the Packers, completing 13 of his 16 passes for 137 yards with two touchdowns.
The Lions led the game 17-14 at the break after Austin Seiberts’ 43-yard field goal sailed through the uprights.
But then Goff’s issues with giveaways came up again in a rainy second half, as the quarterback lost one of his two fumbles and threw an interception to De’Vondre Campbell. He finished the game 26-of-36 passing for 246 yards with two TDs and the pick. And Detroit didn’t score in the second half.
Goff has completed 69 percent of his passes for 584 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. But he’s leading the league with 93 passing attempts, which brings his yards per attempt down to 6.3. That’s the lowest figure since his rookie year and nearly a yard lower than his previous low from last season.
Still, Lions head coach Dan Campbell praised his quarterback on Wednesday for playing with “a high level of confidence.”
“He really has after the last two weeks,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “And look, you can’t excuse the turnovers, but if you take those away, he would’ve given us a chance to win [on Monday]. He made some pretty dang good throws and he improvised a little bit, which you didn’t necessarily always see that at the Rams. So that was encouraging to us.”
Whenever a coach says, “If you take away the turnovers,” it gives the rest of the statement a, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” vibe. And Campbell even says there you can’t excuse the giveaways, so he knows. But when it comes to Goff, those negative plays are a big part of why Los Angeles was ready to move on from the quarterback.
Per Birkett, Goff said himself that passing yards don’t speak much to the success he and Detroit’s offense would like to have.
“I don’t know if we’re very proud about the results so far, but we’ve done some good things offensively and have been able to move the ball a little bit,” Goff said. “I’d rather throw for 200 yards and win games.”
The opponent doesn’t get much easier for Detroit this week with the Ravens coming to town. But if the Lions are to pull off an upset, they’ll need Goff to not just play with confidence, but also play without turnovers.