When the Lions gave quarterback Jared Goff a new contract earlier this year, it came with an expectation that he’ll step up his game.
He has.
Goff has two straight games with a passer rating for 150 or higher. With another on Sunday in Minnesota, Goff will become the first quarterback in NFL history to do it for three games in a row.
Against the Cowboys on Sunday, Goff’s passer rating was 153.8. In Detroit’s prior game, a Week 4 Monday nighter against the Seahawks, Goff’s perfect 18-for-18 night didn’t lead to a perfect passer rating, but it was close to a perfect passer rating, at 155.8. (The perfect passer rating is 158.3; Goff’s touchdown percentage was a bit below statistical perfection.)
Three quarterbacks have strung together a trio of passer ratings in excess of 140: Roger Staubach in 1971; Kurt Warner in 1999; and Aaron Rodgers in 2011.
It won’t be easy against the Brian Flores-led defense. That said, Goff had a perfect passer rating against the Vikings on a Thursday night in 2018. At the time, however, the Minnesota defense was led by Mike Zimmer — whose Dallas defense Goff once again shredded like dried-out cheddar in the Lions’ most recent game.