Jared Goff could have earned the nickname “Mr. Perfect” after his last outing. The Detroit Lions quarterback completed all 18 of his pass attempts against Seattle and even caught a touchdown pass from his favorite target, receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Goff had extra time to reflect on his performance as Detroit’s bye week came up early on its schedule. The Lions (3-1) next travel to Arlington, Texas, to face Dallas on Sunday.
For Goff, his NFL record-breaking performance in the 42-29 home victory over the Seahawks on Sept. 30 wasn’t an all-time best.
“There are other games that I felt like I’ve played even better,” he said. “We just had no incompletions, which is rare. I felt good, but I’ve had games where I feel even better, and things are clicking even more. I think we can get there. We can do even better and continue to improve.”
The Lions’ last trip to the Cowboys’ home stadium, on Dec. 30, 2023, was memorable in a different way. Goff completed an apparent, go-ahead two-point conversion pass to lineman Taylor Decker in the closing seconds. However, Decker was deemed to be an ineligible receiver and Detroit lost 20-19. It was a controversial ruling that left the Lions fuming at the time.
Goff said there is a revenge factor but not because of the officials’ call.
“I don’t want to dwell on something that was eight months ago or whatever. I don’t think we got screwed intentionally,” he said. “I think it was just a mistake that the officials made, and it happens. That type of stuff happens, and you move on, but no, I don’t think we take it personally. Yeah, of course I think it’s more on the lines … we haven’t beaten these guys two years in a row and that’s more in our heads of like, âAll right, it’s time to try and stop that.'”
The Cowboys (3-2) are still looking for their first home win. They bounced back from two consecutive home defeats with tight victories over the New York Giants (20-15) and Pittsburgh Steelers (20-17)
Slowing down Goff and the versatile Detroit offense will be the key to getting that elusive home win.
“As an offense, they’re really in sync,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “Those guys have been together a couple of years now and they’re playing with a lot of confidence.”
Goff’s counterpart, Dak Prescott, threw for 352 yards against the Steelers but he didn’t rely on his top receiver, All-Pro CeeDee Lamb. Jalen Tolbert led the receiving corps with seven receptions for 87 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Rico Dowdle sparked the running game with 87 yards on 20 carries.
“We’ve played five games and in two of them we’ve been out of balance,” McCarthy said. “We want to play with balance. The run efficiency for the last two weeks has been 55 percent, which is where you want to live. We definitely want to build off of that.”
Lamb has only two touchdown catches while averaging five receptions per game. Lions coach Dan Campbell doesn’t expect that to last.
“He’s a point of emphasis. Everything starts with this quarterback and with him,” Campbell said. “That’s what it starts with their offense, that’s what it starts with their team. And so yeah, we have got to keep him in check.”
The Lions came back from the bye week healthy. Center Frank Ragnow (pectoral), who missed the Seattle game, practiced in full on Wednesday. Defensive end Micah Parsons (ankle) and linebacker Eric Kendricks (calf, shoulder) were among the Cowboys players who didn’t practice.
Cornerback DaRon Bland (foot), a first-team All-Pro in 2023 who has not played this season, was designated to return to practice and was a full participant, as was cornerback Trevon Diggs (ankle). Rookie defensive end Marshawn Kneeland (knee) was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least four games.
