Lions' Confidence in Jared Goff Has Grown All Season
As the Detroit Lions enjoy their recent successes, perhaps nobody is happier than quarterback Jared Goff.
The seventh-year quarterback was the target of plenty of criticism during Detroit’s 1-6 start. Yet, over the last seven games, he’s turned the team around. He’s tossed eight touchdowns, against zero interceptions, in his last five games, four of which have been wins.
As he’s enjoyed an uptick in performance, Goff has impressed head coach Dan Campbell. The offense has been employing many unique looks, demonstrating the amount of faith that Campbell and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson have in their signal-caller.
“I would say it's grown as the season's gone on,” Campbell said of his confidence in his quarterback. “And, I would just say, you know, I had a lot of confidence in his ability to move the football and to get us in the right place and to be efficient. But, there was things early, you know, when we were really trying to, man, we're trying to outscore, really trying to push the ball or there'd be times where a little bit, you're holding your breath, you get the risk, but, man, careful with it. And, it bit us a little bit and, for any quarterback, that's a hard spot to be in, because you don't want to do it. But, yet, you know, you need to score, that's kind of where we were at. And, I don't feel that way. I've lost that feeling.
“It's been a long time, and I have complete faith in the guy. He's done an unbelievable job getting us in the right play, decision-making, his ball accuracy. He made about three or four throws yesterday with pressure right in his face. You know, we kind of got beat a couple of times inside quickly, and he stood right in there and just made throws that were on the money. Listen, that's credit to him. They're blocking well up front, but the couple of times where he did kind of come through, you know, man, he's made a conscious effort to sit in here. He trusts those guys and to follow through and make the throws. So, I have the utmost faith in the guy right now.”
Lions wide receiver DJ Chark, who caught a touchdown pass from Goff Sunday against the Vikings, also recently praised the quarterback’s recent efforts.
“Oh, he’s playing great, you know,” Chark said. “I feel like this offense is really tailored to him, his strengths, and good job by the Lions to go get guys that fit those strengths, you know, to help him out at receiver. And, O-line is playing great, keeping him, he’s able to sit in there. He’s very smart, I think it’s underrated how smart he is. He sees the defense beforehand. We kind of know what we are planning on getting, and you know, just keep it going. I got an idea the ball coming, just make the plays. And, I think at this point, we’re all comfortable with each other, so it makes it a little easier.”
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Improving on the ground
Though the pass game has been zooming along, Detroit has been struggling to get going on the ground in recent weeks.
The Lions have been able to get production from players such as Jamaal Williams, who leads the league in rushing touchdowns with 14, and D’Andre Swift. However, consistency has been lacking.
Detroit hasn’t had an individual 100-yard rusher since Williams accomplished the feat in Week 4. Meanwhile, the team has been held under 100 total rushing yards twice over the last five games.
If the Lions are going to maintain their success, Campbell acknowledged that the run game must improve. The New York Jets, Detroit’s next opponent, are very physical, emphasizing the importance of running the ball effectively.
“We’ve got to be better in our run game,” Campbell said. “We have to be better in our run efficiency on offense, that’s a definite. It doesn’t mean we have to run the ball more. It means we have to be much more efficient, and we can be with those guys that we’ve got up front, our tight ends, our backs, everything, shoot, our receivers. Everybody’s got a hand in the run efficiency, we have to be better, we haven’t been as good. Goff and those receivers and our pass pro have been outstanding. You want to try to take the run away a little bit. We've been able to answer that in the past attack. But, yet, you still need to be able to have efficient runs.”
A spark in the run game has been Justin Jackson, who has proven himself as valuable recently. He scored a 15-yard touchdown on the ground Sunday, finishing with 19 yards on four carries.
Notes
Campbell mentioned several leaders as key components to Detroit’s recent winning stretch. Among the players mentioned were offensive linemen Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow, defensive back C.J. Moore, defensive linemen Romeo Okwara and Michael Brockers and linebacker Jarrad Davis.
Detroit's second-year coach said this year’s Lions team reminds him of the 2017 New Orleans Saints, for which he was the tight ends coach. That team won the NFC South and lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC divisional round on a Hail Mary from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs.
“There are similarities. We had a very young crop of pretty good players,” Campbell said. “And, we had some very good veteran players. You know, there's some things about it. And, you know, nobody knew what we were gonna be able to do, but we could battle it out. We were a tough team. We were physical. And, we could kind of compete in a number of different ways. So, that to me, there are some similarities.”
