Why Buccaneers Have to Worry About Lions' Jared Goff

Tampa Bay defenders will have their hands full against Jared Goff.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles hug at midfield at the end of the NFC divisional playoff game at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024. / Eric Seals / USA TODAY NETWORK

Quarterback Jared Goff is the proverbial “straw that stirs the drink” for the Detroit Lions.

Since the midway point of the 2022 season, he's not only experienced his own career renaissance, but he's also keyed the Lions’ resurgence.

In fact, since Week 9 of the ‘22 campaign, he's thrown for 48 touchdowns, as opposed to 14 interceptions, and 7,326 yards. Plus, he's completed 66.74 percent of his passes.

While putting up the solid stat line, the veteran signal-caller has also played an instrumental role in transforming the Lions into a winning organization. Over the course of the past two seasons, he led Detroit to a 21-13 regular season record, a division championship for the first time in 30 years and a playoff win for the first time in 32 years.

Fast-forward to this upcoming Sunday, and the ninth-year pro is certainly a player the Tampa Bay Buccaneers must worry about.

In two games against the Bucs during the 2023 campaign (Week 6 and the divisional round of the playoffs), Goff produced a couple of his very best performances of the season. He threw for a combined 640 yards and four touchdowns, without tossing a single interception. Plus, he completed over 68 percent of his passes and recorded a passer rating of at least 103.5 in both games.

Most importantly, Goff also led Detroit to victories in each of the two aforementioned matchups.

Additionally, the Lions franchise passer has averaged 383 passing yards in four games against the Buccaneers since Todd Bowles joined the organization in 2019. Bowles served as the team's defensive coordinator from 2019-2021, before replacing Bruce Arians as Tampa Bay head coach. 

Among the 15 quarterbacks with three-or-more starts vs. the Bucs in that time span, Goff has recorded the most passing yards per game, edging out the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott. 

As Bucs go to Detroit on Sunday, Jared Goff has averaged 383 passing yards in four games vs. Tampa Bay since Todd Bowles arrived in 2019. That's the most out of 15 QBs with 3+ starts vs. Bucs in that span:

Jared Goff 383.3
Patrick Mahomes 327.0
Matt Ryan 300.3
Dak Prescott 280.7

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 12, 2024

As Bowles admitted Wednesday, Goff is one of the toughest quarterbacks that he has faced in his time as an NFL head coach. 

On Sunday, the Detroit signal-caller, to his advantage, is set to take on a decimated Tampa Bay secondary that will be without cornerback Bryce Hall and All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Plus, there is a chance that Buccaneers cornerback Josh Hayes, who was a non-participant in practice Thursday, will also be unable to go in the Week 2 affair.

This doesn't bode well for the Bucs, which clearly struggled against Goff a season ago. It's not hard to envision Tampa Bay struggling to limit his production through the air on Sunday.