I don’t think people realize what Lions QB Jared Goff is doing right now
Goff has spent his career hearing that pressure is the way to beat him. Through three games, he’s completing passes at an elite rate against both pressure and the blitz without putting the football in danger.
Jared Goff, the Detroit Lions quarterback who has been labeled a statue for most of his NFL career, is quietly putting together some of the best numbers of his career under pressure through the first three games of the 2026 season. And the rest of the league doesn’t seem to have noticed yet.
I’m going to rant a little bit today. Just a little bit.
It started Monday night. Ben Johnson comes out after the Bears’ win with Case Keenum and gets asked about not having a mobile quarterback. He makes a harmless little joke. Totally harmless. Then it gets brought up on the Amon-Ra St. Brown podcast this morning, and Goff says Johnson called him later that night after the whole thing had been blown out of proportion. Goff’s response? He’s not a mobile quarterback. He chooses not to run. That’s the style of game he plays.
I get it. The world is moving toward this idea that you have to have a mobile quarterback or you’re just not good. So I started looking at some stats this morning, and it occurred to me: I didn’t realize Goff was playing this well. And I feel like the rest of the world doesn’t realize it either.
The blitz numbers are ridiculous
The thing we’ve always been told about Goff is simple. You want to stop him? Blitz him. Get in his face. Make him uncomfortable. That’s been the answer for years.
Teams have been blitzing Goff this season. He’s completed 30 of 36 passes for 304 yards, 5 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, Goff has completed 83.3% of his passes when defenses blitz him at 8.4 yards per attempt. Five touchdowns, no interceptions, 83.3%. Pretty damn good.
There’s another number that makes even more noise: zero turnover-worthy plays. Zero. According to PFF, he’s not out there slinging it in dumb ways. He’s clean. Even when he’s facing the blitz, he’s throwing the right passes and making things happen. PFF’s charting with turnover-worthy plays tells you something an interception total alone can’t. A defender could drop a pick. A quarterback can get away with a throw he probably shouldn’t have made. Goff is producing without giving opponents opportunities.
The pressure numbers tell an even better story
A blitz and a pressure are two different things. You can send extra guys and every one of them gets blocked. You can rush four and have somebody right in the quarterback’s face. If we want to know what Goff is doing when things get genuinely uncomfortable, when there’s actual pressure, the numbers are even more compelling.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Goff has completed 19 of 29 passes under pressure for 238 yards, 1 touchdown, and no interceptions. His completion percentage under pressure is 65.5%, second among all qualified passers. His passer rating is 102.4, fifth in the league. The defense is getting home, and he’s still completing nearly two-thirds of his passes with a passer rating over 100.
Then there’s completion percentage over expected (CPOE). The tracking model estimates how often those passes should be completed based on the circumstances of the throw. Goff is completing them 5.8 percentage points above expectation. He’s doing things we’ve been told for years he’s not supposed to be able to do.
Go back to PFF’s pressure report and there’s more. He has 3 big-time throws under pressure, which matters because we always hear about how Goff doesn’t like to throw deep or attempt difficult passes. And again, zero turnover-worthy plays under pressure. The only turnover-worthy play he has this entire season came from a clean pocket.
The ‘micro movements’ that don’t get enough credit
Does Goff need traditional mobility? Go back to that play he had against the Saints. I’m going to call it what it is: micro movements. I’ve just coined that term. He slides, moves forward, moves back. He shifts to the right, a guy misses him, another defender comes bearing down, he shifts forward, and then he delivers the throw. I believe it was to tight end Sam LaPorta, and it was a thing of beauty.
Caleb Williams will leave the pocket and run 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Josh Allen will throw off his back foot, throw crossbody, be a total gunslinger on the move, and that’s traditionally when he throws the most interceptions. Goff doesn’t do that. He finds the safest possible throw. Sometimes that doesn’t work and you have to risk it a little bit. But we haven’t seen pressure, the thing that’s supposed to affect him the most, affect him this year.
The Minnesota test is coming
The Lions’ offensive line is playing significantly better than it was last season, when Goff was getting sacked more than he had been sacked in his entire NFL career. You have to give props to the offensive line. But you also have to come to terms with this idea that he might be having an all-timer right now.
It’s only three games into the season. A lot can change. I particularly want to put this entire test up against the Vikings, because Minnesota is blitzing like crazy, getting pressure like crazy, getting sacks like crazy. Go back and watch the performance against Tampa Bay. Baker Mayfield could do nothing. He was swallowed up immediately, every play. Same thing with Caleb Williams. Couldn’t escape.
Goff has had good games against the Vikings in the past, and he’s had bad ones. Go back to Christmas last season. That was a nightmare, and I don’t know what he could have done with Kingsley Eguakun starting at center and Dan Skipper starting at tackle.
If he can go out and ball out against Minnesota, we can start talking about Goff in the MVP conversation. If he doesn’t, then Minnesota is a problem. Let’s see where it goes.
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