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49ers HC Kyle Shanahan Says Lions QB Jared Goff Hasn't Really Improved

Statistically, Jared Goff is having the best season of his career.

Grant Cohn

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) applauds for teammates during warm up before the game between Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) applauds for teammates during warm up before the game between Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Statistically, Jared Goff is having the best season of his career.

His 33 touchdown passes, 71.4 completion percentage and 112.2 passer rating all are career highs. He seems tougher, more confident and more accurate than he ever did when he played for the Rams.

But he also is playing behind the best offensive line in football, plus he has an elite running game, elite receivers and an elite playcaller. So his supporting cast has improved as well.

On Saturday, I asked Kyle Shanahan how Goff has improved in Detroit. His answer might surprise you.

“I think it's hard for any quarterback to be successful if they're not in a good situation," Shanahan said. "But I think Goff was unbelievable with the Rams. Their Super Bowl year, I thought he was a borderline MVP player. I know not every year was like that for him just statistically and stuff. I think the following years weren't quite as good, but when his team's real good around him, he is as good as any quarterback in this league. So, he was a real hard guy to beat in L.A. and the way he's been playing with Detroit, I almost want to say better, but that's how good he was earlier too. So, it was a hell of a rebound for him and I'm happy to see him doing it.”

It may sound like Shanahan was knocking Goff because Shanahan implied that Goff isn't elite unless he has an elite team around him. But that's true of most quarterbacks in the league, including Shanahan's quarterback -- Brock Purdy.

Replace Goff's name with Purdy's and Shanahan's statement remains true.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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