Cal Sports Report

Is Jared Goff Still an MVP Contender?

Former Cal star Goff has another strong game in the Lions' win over the Bears

Jake Curtis

Former Cal quarterback Jared Goff, now with the Lions
Former Cal quarterback Jared Goff, now with the Lions / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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Former Cal star Jared Goff has slipped out of the MVP conversation in recent weeks, but the Lions quarterback may have kept his name on the periphery of that discussion with a strong game in Detroit's 34-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Goff appears to be fourth in the MVP race at the moment, with Bill quarterback Josh Allen being the clear favorite, with Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson second, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley third and Goff fourth.

Goff is ahead of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who looks to be fifth entering this weekend's games.

But Goff may have gained a little ground on Sunday. He was 23-for-32 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 137.0. And his 82-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams that gave Detroit a 20-0 lead was a thing of beauty.

Goff now has 33 touchdown passes, a single-season high for Goff, along with 10 interceptions, with five of those picks coming in one game.

In the six games since that five-pick game, Goff has thrown 17 touchdown passes with just one interception.

Goff entered the weekend second in the NFL in passer rating and third in passing yards per game, and he might move up after Sunday's performance.

More important is the fact that the Lions are 13-2, the second-best record in the NFL and best in the NFC.

Goff's problem when it comes to subjective honors like the MVP is that he doesn't produce many flashy plays. Allen, Jackson and Mahomes all can make plays with their legs, creating big plays when the defense seems to have the upper hand. Goff is not quite a statue in the pocket, but he's never going to win games by scrambling out of trouble or gaining ground on designed runs. He's strictly a drop-back passer in the mold of quarterbacks of past decades, like Tom Brady and Drew Brees..

But Goff has to be on the ballot when MVP votes are cast.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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