Jared Goff made a fairly bold declaration earlier this week, but is he actually playing better than he ever has?
As a team over the last five weeks, the Detroit Lions are playing the best they have in quite a while. A narrow loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving Day is all that prevents them from having a five-game winning streak.
Naturally in line with that run, Jared Goff has been playing well again after a little downturn. Over the last five games, the Lions’ signal caller has seven touchdowns and one interception with a 99.8 passer rating and a 66.7 percent completion rate.
Goff spoke to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard this past week, and he went all-in with an interesting analysis of himself.
"I feel like I am playing the best football of my career right now,I’ve played a lot of good football in my career, but I feel as comfortable as I’ve ever felt,” Goff said. “I’m getting older, I’m understanding the game more and it’s just everything coming together a little bit.”"
Is Jared Goff really playing better than he ever has in his career?
Goff started a Super Bowl LIII for the Los Angeles Rams. He also posted the best passer rating of his career in that 2018 regular season (101.7). His 95.7 passer rating for this season so far is his best passer rating since 2018. His 60.5 total QBR, which can be a better measure of a quarterback’s play than passer rating, is sixth-best in the league entering Week 14. In 2018, he had the 10th-best QBR in the league (63.6).
Within the context of Goff’s 2018 numbers, it’s important to note a loaded Rams’ offense. The Lions’ offense has not quite been operating at its fullest talent capacity practically all season, and outside of a few dud games Goff has played pretty well.
Goff was sure note the benefits of experience at this stage of his career. A very good connection with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, easily similar to the connection he had with Rams’ head coach Sean McVay, has also been important this year.
As for if Goff is indeed playing better than he ever has? At minimum he’s not far off to say he is, based on raw numbers. Accounting for everything he cited, beyond the numbers, it’s impossible to truly argue against it.