Detroit Lions and Jared Goff ready for Commanders to bring pressure

The Washington Commanders will certainly do all they can to put pressure on Jared Goff on Sunday, but the Lions will be ready for it.

The Detroit Lions offensive line held up solidly against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, as Jared Goff was only sacked once and generally kept pretty clean. Another good defensive line is on the slate in Week 2, even though the Washington Commanders will not have Chase Young (PUP list-ACL).

The Lions are dealing with multiple offensive line injuries. Center Frank Ragnow, left tackle Taylor Decker and left guard Jonah Jackson have been on the injury report this week, with Ragnow adding a foot issue to last week’s groin injury.

Without Young, Washington still has three former first-round picks on their defensive front–Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. The Lions’ offensive line and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, via Kyle Meinke of MLive, acknowledged the challenge ahead.

"Ben Johnson called the trio of Sweat, Allen and Payne “about as good as it gets.” The first-year Lions offensive coordinator said the Commanders “pressure a lot more than what we’ve seen,” which will be a point of emphasis to counter heading into the weekend."

Detroit Lions, Jared Goff, may be equipped to deal with Commanders’ pressure

Even with how good the aforementioned defensive line trio is, Washington blitzed Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence 21 times in Week 1 (h/t to SI.com). They will certainly bring extra rushers plenty again on Sunday, with Goff notably less mobile than Lawrence.

Goff didn’t do a lot well last season, at least until final his five starts (107.1 passer rating). But as noted by Lions Wire in the offseason, via NFL Inside Edge, he was top-10 in passer rating and completion percentage against the blitz.

Passer rating vs. the blitz: 10th (103.0)
Completion percentage vs. the blitz: 3rd (68.1 percent-64-for-94)

The Commanders won’t hesitate to bring extra rushers on Goff, and it will be everyone’s job to try to negate the impact of that aggressiveness and take advantage of opportunities that’ll be presented. But the Lions’ quarterback seems well-able to succeed against the blitz, which is a good place to start.