Early impressions always seem to go a long way. They can be hard to get out of your head. I think some of the first impressions that Detroit Lions fans have about their quarterback Jared Goff are stuck in their heads. 

I get it. It's hard to get past the idea that he flamed out with the Rams and that his start in Detroit was really bad. I understand. I was right there along with you during that time. I think that bad time is smaller than we all think though. 

It really boils down to eight games. Jared Goff played eight games with the Lions where they didn't seem to be tailoring their offense around him at all. I don't want to make Anthony Lynn a scapegoat or anything. He's a good coach, he just didn't fit.

In that first eight games, Goff had just about all the problems you could imagine. He would melt under pressure, he didn't seem to trust anyone and he had no confidence. The biggest problem is that he kept turning the ball over. In his first eight games with the Lions he turned the ball over 10 times in those games. That's six interceptions and four fumbles lost. It could have been more. Goff fumbled seven times in eight games. Luckily the Lions picked up three of those. 

During Week 9 of the 2021 season, Dan Campbell took over the offensive play calling for the Lions. Jared Goff almost immediately began to improve. 

Goff has played 23 games since then and he's turned the ball over 15 times during that time. At first glance, that doesn't look all that impressive. But it really is when you consider the rest of the division. 

Quarterback	Turnovers	Games
Jared Goff	15	23
Aaron Rodgers	17	25
Kirk Cousins	23	24
Justin Fields	18	18

That's pretty good. Goff was by far the most secure quarterback in the NFC North since Week 10 of the 2021 season. Still, this doesn't seem like enough to show how great Jared Goff has been when it comes to ball security. Let's compare him to the entire NFL. 

Since there's so much movements and injuries around the league during that time, I decided to track every quarterback that's played at least 18 games since Week 10 of the 2021 season. Here's what I found. 

Quarterback	Turnovers	Games
Jared Goff	15	23
Aaron Rodgers	17	25
Kirk Cousins	23	24
Justin Fields	18	18
Josh Allen	29	24
Tua Tagovailoa	15	21
Mac Jones	17	22
Russell Wilson	17	23
Patrick Mahomes	17	25
Derek Carr	25	24
Justin Herbert	22	26
Joe Burrow	20	25
Matt Ryan	26	21
Trevor Lawrence	27	26
Ryan Tannehill	15	20
Dak Prescott	24	20
Daniel Jones	10	18
Jalen Hurts	14	21

Ok, let's talk about what we see here. Daniel Jones has the fewest turnovers with 10. He did play five less games than Jared Goff though. He also threw 233 less passes. I think it's fair to put Goff over him at this point. Hurts has one less turnover, but he played two less games and threw 154 less passes. 

Jones isn't the big player of note though. Goff has less turnovers than MVP Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers and Justin Herbert. All the guys that everyone agrees are better than Goff. 

When you consider this impressive feat and the fact that Goff was sixth in passing yards, fifth in passing touchdowns, seventh in passer rating and is pretty good at throwing deep, I just don't see how anyone could have a problem with this guy. Seems like a guy you might want to extend and keep around.

Featured image by Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports