Jared Goff Knows When To Be Aggressive and When To Play It Safe

Mark Brunell believes Jared Goff's key to success has been ball security.

Consistency is the name of the game for an NFL starting quarterback, and Jared Goff was the definition of just that down the stretch of the 2022 campaign.

Goff, in fact, failed to throw a single interception during the Lions’ final nine games a season ago. And, in that same stretch, the veteran signal-caller threw 15 touchdowns, and guided Detroit to a 7-2 record.

And now, going into his third season with the Lions, the biggest challenge for Goff – according to Detroit quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell – will be to carry over his consistent play from the second half of last season.

“Consistency,” Brunell told reporters Monday, as he talked about the “biggest challenge” for Goff to get better coming off last year. “What he did well with last year was his decision-making. And, that stretch that we made, he was just taking care of the ball, smart with the football. It’s continuing that. That’s at the top of the list, and I think he’ll do that.”

Quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell and Jared Goff  :: © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Goff’s efficient play helped him record his best season since his early days with the Los Angeles Rams, the organization that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2016. Impressively, Goff recorded a 61.1 QBR – the fifth-best mark among all quarterbacks in 2022. The only year in which he recorded a higher QBR came in 2018 when he was a member of the Rams (63.6).

Additionally, during the ‘22 season, Goff recorded the lowest interception percentage of his career (1.2 percent), earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time since the 2018 season and led the Lions to their first winning record (9-8) since 2017.

And, along the way, the savvy NFL passer mastered the art of knowing when to be conservative and when to be aggressive and take his shots down field.

“When the opportunities to be aggressive present themselves, you have to take advantage of them. And, the beauty of our quarterback is he has the ability, the arm talent, the experience really to know when to pull the trigger and to be aggressive. But, at the same time, understanding that a check-down is a pretty good thing,” Brunell said of Goff. “And, I think, as the season progressed last year, we saw that not pushing the ball so far down the field and being too aggressive where it could really hurt your team, just going through your progression and understanding it’s not always going to be there. But, when it is, you have to take advantage of it."

Goff will enter the 2023 season with a receivers room that includes capable pass-catchers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Jones Jr. and Josh Reynolds, as well as Jameson Williams once he returns from his six-game suspension. Goff will also be equipped with a potential No. 1 tight end in first-year pro Sam LaPorta.

Brunell expressed optimism that those aforementioned “weapons” will help bring out the best in the eighth-year passer this upcoming season.

“We’ve got some really good players,” Brunell commented. “So, I think Jared would tell you that the best thing we have going for us is his supporting cast and of course, being in the system one more year.”