Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff isn’t just hitting the mark this season. He’s shattering it.
Goff leads the NFL in completion percentage (74.9%) through his first eight games. If he maintains this pace, he will break the record former New Orleans Saints QB and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees set in 2018 (74.4% in 16 games).
“No one in NFL history has come close to what Brees was doing late in his career,” Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith wrote Thursday. “At least not until Goff this year. Over his last six games, Goff has completed 82.8% of his passes. No one else in NFL history has ever completed more than 80% of his passes over any six-game stretch.”
Of course, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson isn’t letting Goff take many shots downfield, creating easier throws. Per Pro Football Reference, he’s averaging 6.5 air yards per attempt, tied for 29th in the NFL.
However, air yards don’t matter much when a QB consistently moves the ball.
“ESPN has a new metric called precision pass rate, which measures how often QBs hit their receivers in stride and in range of their torso,” wrote Bill Barnwell Thursday. “The league average since Week 3 is 53.6%. The second-placed metric is [Philadelphia’s] Jalen Hurts, at 62.9%. Goff is at 75.8%. That’s an unreal level of accuracy. He’s hitting every pass-catcher in the hands.”
Goff’s precision is a key reason the Lions offense is difficult to stop. Detroit (7-1) ranks first in the league in points scored (32.3) and seventh in yards (369.6).
As of Thursday, FanDuel Sportsbook gives Goff the fourth-best MVP odds (+800) behind Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
Even if he doesn’t win the award, that doesn’t take away from his accomplishments.
When the Los Angeles Rams traded Goff to Detroit in March 2021, his career seemed at a crossroads. Now, the 2016 No. 1 pick is on the verge of breaking NFL records and could help the Lions hoist their first Lombardi Trophy.