When you’re locked into a see-saw affair with a combined 71 points on the scoreboard and 905 yards of offense on the field, even a perfect night passing can get overlooked.
Such was the case on a manic Monday night when neither Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff or his head coach Dan Campbell knew after their wild and wooly 42-29 win over the Seattle Seahawks that Goff had gone a pristine 18-of-18 passing.
Then again, Goff also threw for 292 yards, two touchdowns — including a 70-yarder — and caught his first career TD, so there was plenty to digest and celebrate for Detroit.
“I just gave the game ball to somebody else, so I feel awful right now,” Campbell said after the game. “I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18. But I knew he played really well; you could feel it. He really found his rhythm early, and I thought he was seeing the field, played with rhythm, he had to move a little bit in the pocket. … Just a number of huge throws. Played with poise.”
Not long before Campbell took to the podium, Goff was interviewed on the field by ESPN’s Lisa Salters, who delivered his final passing line of perfection.
“Was I?” Goff asked when told he was flawless on the evening.
“It’s good when the ball doesn’t hit the ground, it’s a good day,” Goff continued.
Game balls were bestowed to wide receiver Jameson Williams, who hauled in the aforementioned 70-yard TD, and cornerback Kerby Joseph, who pulled in the game-sealing interception, Campbell said. It underscored just how many big-time performances were had.
Highlights were plentiful. So too was history when it came to Goff.
He became the first quarterback in NFL history with 15 or more pass attempts and zero incompletions in a game, per NFL Research.
He was 12 for 12 before he caught a beautiful Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown pass for a 7-yard touchdown and became the first QB with a receiving touchdown since Zach Wilson with the New York Jets in Week 4, 2022.
“No, I think that’s my first one, too. Ever,” Goff said of the touchdown reception. “And I’m saying all the way back to 7 years old, I think that’s my first one.”
It was a play that’s been in the works for a while now, but Monday night was the right time and the right place.
“We’ve just never gotten in the right situation for it to get called,” Goff told reporters after the game. “I think we actually have called it in a game before, and then if it’s not the right look I get out of it, but that was the right look.”
Detroit’s high-profile and high-octane offense had yet to light up the scoreboard through the first three weeks, having failed to score more than 26 points.
Campbell wasn’t worried, though, and Monday’s showing was evidence as to why he remained confident that the Goff-led group would get revved up eventually.
“We knew this was coming offensively,” Campbell said. “Everybody did. That’s why you can’t worry about this and that. You can’t start panicking. You just work, and you clean everything up.”
While Goff pinpointed his passes in the first half, it was the running game of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs that powered the offense, with the tandem combining for three scores that led to a 21-7 halftime lead.
After the Seahawks cut the deficit to 21-14 in the third quarter, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson dialed up the razzle dazzle.
“We had it in this week,” St. Brown told NFL Network’s Taylor Bisciotti. “If we had the right alert, we were going to call it. I’m in the huddle. He calls it, he’s like here we go. I mean if I can’t catch one, I’ll throw one, so let’s do it.”
For a moment in time, Goff was tied for the team lead on the season with one touchdown catch.
He changed all that, though, when he delivered a laser over the middle to Williams while staring down a Seahawks pass rush and the speedy wideout took it to the house. It was Goff’s 15th straight completion of the game.
On his 17th, he returned the favor with an 8-yard TD toss to St. Brown.
Williams and Brown are now tied for the season lead with two TD catches apiece, just one ahead of Goff.
As for what the St. Brown-to-Goff scoring play is called, well it’s Alcatraz, and the quarterback isn’t quite sure why.
“It’s been called Alcatraz for two or three years now,” Goff said. “I guess I never asked [Johnson] why. There probably is a reason. I probably should know it, I just don’t know.”
Regardless of the origin of the play’s name, there was no escaping Goff on Monday night.
He was the quarterback who had more touchdown catches than incompletions.
He was the Detroit Lion who threw a perfect game the night before the Detroit Tigers begin the Major League Baseball playoffs.
He was the QB who didn’t get a game ball or even a perfect passer rating, but he rekindled the Lions’ offense en route to victory.
“Awesome. Yeah, really cool,” Goff said of going 18 for 18. “It’s a cool thing to have I guess, but I’m happy we got the win.”
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