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Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff was really cool after five picks

HOUSTON – No, he hasn’t regressed. He just had a difficult game.

It happens. Ask Tom Brady – not that anyone is saying Jared Goff is Tom Brady.

The best quarterbacks throw interceptions and miss receivers and throw the ball into the turf, like Goff did more times than anyone can remember doing all season. The best quarterbacks lose games except – apparently –Patrick Mahomes. The best quarterbacks have off nights.

Goff had a bad night. He completed exactly half of his passes – at least for the Detroit Lions. Of the six balls he threw to the Houston Texans, only one was incomplete.

So there is that.

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Hey, jokes are allowed after victories. What else are you supposed to do after rolling five interceptions and narrowly missing a sixth? (In case you tuned in late, Texas cornerback Derek Stingley Jr dropped a high ball intended for Jameson Williams early in the game.)

They will smile and express a little self-deprecation, as Goff did late Sunday night after the Lions beat the Texans 26-23 on a last-second 52-yard field goal with the increasingly golden foot of Jake Bates.

“In cold blood,” Goff said of Bates’ kick.

This also included Bates' 58-yarder on the Lions' second-to-last possession, which made the final shot possible.

But let's not forget another thing that made this kick possible:

Goff.

He was also a bit cold-blooded.

At least when he absolutely had to be. Do you need 6 yards for a first down and a chance to run the clock down to the final tick before the kick? The Lions wouldn't want anyone other than Goff trying to find those yards.

Even on a night where he almost threw six picks.

As for the 50% completion rate?

That worked in the 1970s, but it's not so stylish today, especially for one of the NFL's most accurate passers. And while the shocking number of picks will stay with us, the mediocre completion rate could tell us much more.

Of course, the Lions hope it doesn't mean much. Surely they would hate for Houston to simply give the rest of the league a blueprint on how to attack this balanced, powerful and (usually) explosive offense. Yes, yes, if you pressure a quarterback, the completion rate drops.

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But have the Texans exposed a weakness in their rush package and panels?

Probably not, especially because there are only so many variables a defensive coordinator can try, and Goff has seen them all. And if not, if he sees something new, he'll catalog it and find out the next time he breaks out of the crowd.

No, what Houston did to the Lions had more to do with personnel, the combination of their gifted edge rushers, their nimble and powerful tackles, and their sticky secondary. The Texans both pressured Goff – on half of his dropbacks – And hindered the run; The Lions ran for 23 yards in the first half.

Spot a quarterback's running game and watch a quarterback struggle…in a mild panic. Well, except for Patrick Mahomes, right?

Incorrect. Even he can't lead an offense to 30 points per game without a running game and skilled players.

Football is not a one-man game, no matter how much we revere elite quarterbacks. Now a man can make one enormous Difference, sure. And it helps when the quarterback makes the difference.

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Which is a stroke of luck for the Lions, because her husband is, even if he has a long and tiring night.

Although long And attempt are relative, and what seems that way to some people isn't necessarily true for Goff.

Because he doesn't forget and he hasn't forgotten. Where he was. What he went through. How it feels to be thrown away. This is the stuff from which fear and doubt arise. Not throwing five interceptions.

How did he feel Sunday night after his fourth interception?

“Mentally I’m at rock bottom,” he said after the game. “Some unfortunate plays won’t faze me.”

Hey, he doesn't deny the frustration when a pass is tipped and intercepted, or when his tight end is knocked over, or when he gets hit and his pass bounces around a phalanx of big guys before being caught by those in battle red, “not Honolulu Blue.

A quarterback has to shake it off.

“It’s a fight,” Goff said.

But?

“I didn’t feel like I played that bad,” he said. “I saw things well. The tipped ball? They made some good plays. Some things didn't go according to our expectations. I never lost confidence. I felt like I was doing what I was supposed to do.”

His coach agreed.

“Here's the thing,” Dan Campbell said, “I know that's… all right, forget about that right before halftime.” That was a Hail Mary, we're just trying to bring it out, a hope and a prayer. It didn't work out, so now there are only four. Actually, only one of them was like, “Ah, okay, I get it.” The rest of it? It's just kind of a circumstance. A few things happened, the Sam LaPorta thing, it was a good throw, that's what we tell him. And LaPorta is a little late and then doesn't quite get to the ball, but the timing says, “Yeah, rip the ball open.” We were a little off. Him and Jamo? Should be a slightly higher angle, and only these small circumstances play a role, and that's why I won't tell him anything. Because I don't feel like it's like, 'Oh man, what are you doing?' These weren't rash throws, it just wasn't our day. And so if it’s not your day and you can still win, that’s the sign of a good team.”

And a tough quarterback. Who can throw five picks and then use a clear-eyed rope to convert the biggest third down of the game?

Speaking of clear eyes, Goff said he kept his Sunday night in Houston regardless of what it looked like. As always, the proof is in the performance. When it mattered most, he made the plays. And that's always the only thing that matters.

So he told his teammates, ‘I’m fine, just hang in there.’ We’ll…figure this out.”

For this reason, he told his coaches not to abandon the plan or they would believe that he could still use all the rules of the game.

That's why he indirectly tells you that “every team gets a punch in the mouth.” And the good ones respond.”

Think of it as “callus formation,” another popular term in football.

For these Lions who were once again on the move.

And for Goff, who wasn't as flawless as he was in the comeback in Minneapolis last month, but still led his team to 19 points in the second half against a good, dominating defense.

“To win a game where the offense commits five turnovers?” Goff said. “If you can dig deep into these adverse situations and emerge victorious, you’re just preparing yourself for the next adverse situation.”

Sure, he said, he'd like to have a few picks back. And he had to “swallow it a little bit” and accept that “yes, it happened.”

Competitive pride and all set?

But he wasn't going to exhaust all the confidence he had gained in this footballing life. Yes, five interceptions is a scary and fat number. Only nine previous Lions QBs had reached that number in a single game, and only one of them – Frankie Sinkwich in 1944 – won.

But there is context, and there was still a game to be won, and Goff led his team down the field to contribute to that victory.

What was his secret?

“Don’t try to give up on what I know I can do,” Goff said.

He didn't. His teammates didn't. His coaches didn't.

No wonder the Lions are 8-1. They don't forget. But they don't live either. It starts with the quarterback, especially on nights like Sunday.

Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

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