Jared Goff is coming off what was arguably his worst start of the season amid a rocky stretch for the Detroit Lions and their high-powered offense.
Goff threw for a season-low 161 yards in last week’s 28-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. He had one beautiful touchdown to Josh Reynolds in the back of the end zone and a tight-window dime on a fourth-down toss to Donovan Peoples-Jones. But he threw another two interceptions and had a lost fumble on snap (with Graham Glasgow) in the tough situation of trying to claw back.
But it’s not just the increase in turnovers that’s concerning. The timing seemed off from the get in Chicago, and it was the second consecutive ultra-quiet day for do-it-all wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Sun God was limited to only three catches for 21 yards for his quietest two-game stretch since his rookie season two years ago.
Goff also received his lowest marks of the season from the folks at Pro Football Focus in Week 14. And St. Brown joined him as the two worst-graded offensive players, an obvious recipe for a long day for this Lions offense. The New Orleans Saints threw extra bodies at St. Brown while the Bears worked to take the middle of the field away, forcing Goff downfield and to the sideline.
“Yeah, you’d love to get him going,” Goff said of St. Brown. “I think he’s doing a great job. He’s been very accountable of things that he feels like he can do better, and then for me as well, I’m very much just talking to him about ways that I want to try to do better for him and get him the ball in certain ways a little bit better than we have in the last couple weeks.
“But he’s one of the best guys I’ve ever been around and have no doubts that he’s going to be just fine, and we’ll finish this season off pretty well.”l
From Weeks 1 to 10, PFF had Goff ranked tops among quarterbacks.
But through the last four games? PFF slots him 34th among fellow starters with enough dropbacks to qualify, in front of only Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky and Seattle’s Drew Lock during that span.
“Yeah, I don’t know what the numbers are. I know we scored 40 against the Chargers and played pretty well against the Saints, and then the other three just didn’t do our thing quite the same way offensively,” Goff said. “And yeah, I wish there was one thing you can put your finger on, but there’s not. It’s just plain execution and doing what we’re supposed to do, and it starts with me and leading that charge and getting us back on track.