Jared Goff finished with one of the most anemic passing performances in modern Detroit Lions history in Week 10. The Lions managed to tie the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-16 in a dreary, moist Heinz Field on Sunday, but Goff’s weak performance was a big reason why Detroit couldn’t pull off the victory.
Goff threw for just 114 passing yards, completing 14 of his 25 passes. Considering more than half of those yards came in overtime, it was an anemic performance from the veteran quarterback. He was sacked four times by Pittsburgh’s aggressive defensive front. The game plan was conservative, to be sure, but Goff also failed to execute it at an acceptable level.
Dan Campbell was much more integrally involved in both the offensive game plan and play-calling. Coming out of the bye week, it was something he took upon himself after his team’s abysmal performance in the Week 8 loss to Philadelphia.
That means Campbell deserves the blame for leaving an obviously ineffective Jared Goff in the game. Whether Goff was limited by reported back and core muscle injuries or simply afraid to throw at the Steelers defense, the passing offense was a complete liability. Case in point: on a 2nd-and-15 call in the second half, the Steelers went zero coverage on all receivers on a run blitz. And it worked. D’Andre Swift got bowled under for a short loss.
The one deep shot Goff took was embarrassing. Wide receiver Kalif Raymond was wide open several steps behind the Steelers coverage, but Goff’s throw some 40 yards down the field hung up in the air and was easily broken up. Even an average throw results in a touchdown on that play, that’s how in the clear Raymond was.
After the game, both Campbell and Goff were asked about the quarterback’s health status and why he remained in the game despite his obvious ineffectiveness and limited play.
“I kept talking to our trainers and talking to him, talking to Brunell and, you
know, it was — the consensus was (to) leave him in there,” Campbell said of Goff. “He was good to go. He wanted to go. He felt good enough to do what he needed to do. And so that’s what we did, stuck with him.”
Goff downplayed the strained oblique injury in his own postgame press conference,
“…I thought, a sprained oblique. Just kind of nagged me a little bit throughout the game. I felt like I was fine in there and felt like it didn’t affect me through the game. But it will be a little sore tomorrow, but I’ll be fine.”
Goff did receive treatment from the Lions training staff during the game, getting a wrap around his torso as well. But backup David Blough — a team captain for the game — never even got loose on the sidelines.
When pressed further in another question, Goff again tried to minimize the injury.
“If I couldn’t have thrown, I wouldn’t have gone (back into the game),” Goff said. “It was — it was — I don’t want to sit up here and say I was hurt and whatever, make excuses. But it was bothering me, but I felt I could compete and throw fine. And I felt like I did.”