Tell me if you've heard this one before: The Detroit Lions find themselves in a deep hole against the Buffalo Bills. Then proceed to claw back to make it a close game, thanks to Jared Goff's arm. Yet, the defense struggles to get a stop as the Lions lose.
Thursday night's loss against the Bills was definitely déjà vu. It's almost exactly how the Lions and Bills match-up from 2024 played out.
Much like 2024, it's a game that could've been infinitely worse had it not been for Goff. Goff finished Thursday 26/38 passing, with 327 passing yards, four touchdown passes, and zero turnovers. Goff even saw some movement on the ground with three carries for seven yards, which tied running back Sione Vaki for second most on the Lions.
Goff spread the wealth to his receivers, throwing two TDs to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, one to RB Jahmyr Gibbs, and one to tight end Sam LaPorta. St. Brown led all receivers with 142 receiving yards after a quiet start in the first half.
Yes, much of this was in "garbage time." The Lions needed scores as the defense couldn't stop Josh Allen, and Gibbs was ineffective in his opportunities throughout the second half. Goff also battled a rough night out of the offensive line, which gave up four sacks. One of those sacks resulted in a Goff fumble, which was recovered by the offense.
The O-line was also penalized four times, with right tackle Larry Borom, starting in place of the inured Blake Miller, earning three of those penalties. Borom's holding penalty negated a first down run by Gibbs. His first false start came toward the end of the first half, and his second came on a 4th and 3 attempt. The other false start, from center Juice Scruggs, came on an also poorly timed 3rd and 1 attempt.
Through it all, Goff never wavered. He wasn't without his miscues, and the offense stalled at points. Still, he hit most of his targets, including numerous difficult throws throughout, such as threading the needle between two Bills defenders to St. Brown from nearly 30 yards out for his fourth TD.
Goff's efforts weren't enough to overcome the opening 21-point deficient, but the Lions did outscore the Bills 31-20 from that point onward. For as much nightmare fuel as this game was, Goff gave the team a chance snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Goff reaches a career passing milestone
It isn't just Goff's performance that'll be overshadowed by this loss, as he did also reach a career milestone. With an 18-yard strike to LaPorta in the first drive of the second half, Goff eclipsed the 40,000 passing yard mark.
Goff becomes the 26th player ever to reach 40,000 yards and, according to Lions PR on X, Goff is the sixth fasted to reach 40,000 at 153 games played. Goff, now at 40,155 on his career, finds himself among legendary names, as he's 85 yards away from passing former all-time leader Johnny Unitas for 25th all-time. After Unitas is Joe Montana at 40,551, who Goff grew up idolizing and dons the #16 in honor of.
READ MORE: Jahmyr Gibbs and Aidan Hutchinson lose out on Player of the Week honors
Goff's four TDs give him 262 for his career, moving him past former Lion Dave Krieg for 23rd all-time. Goff is now seven TDs behind Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes (269) and ten behind Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Flacco (272).
On a night like Thursday night, it's difficult to celebrate a good performance or a career milestone. Yet, it's still worthwhile to highlight the things, however few, that did go right. And amid a laundry list of issues the Lions have right now, Goff again showed that he's one of the least of the Lions' problems right now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google