Allen Park — In the month of December, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has been one of the NFL’s best players. And while he might lose the player of the month award to division counterpart Kirk Cousins, who helped lead the biggest regular-season comeback in league history, Goff’s production has been nothing short of impressive.
With three 300-yard games, nine touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 109.3 passer rating in four December contests, Goff is truly playing some of the best football of his career. Even more notably, he’s overcoming the negatives that have held him back throughout his career, including the turnovers and finding a successful deep-passing game.
On passes 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage, Goff has been one of the league’s most accurate and productive passers in recent weeks, going 8-of-12 for 320 yards. When asked what’s been clicking with that element of the attack, the quarterback was quick to credit having a healthy arsenal.
“I think I go back to when we initially got healthy and however many games that was ago, and DJ (Chark)’s back and Josh (Reynolds) is back, and now Jameson (Williams) coming into the fold,” Goff said. “It’s like we’ve got guys that can really stretch the field now, and that’s number one, just having guys that can really do that, and guys that I feel comfortable with and fits in our offense. Then, just time on task, just getting reps with those guys and feeling good about it.”
Despite the success, Goff hasn’t leaned too heavily on the deep shot. His 12 attempts rank in the middle of the pack among starting QBs, and that’s something offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is hoping to increase in the final couple of weeks of the season.
“We feel good about our ability to throw it deep when presented with those opportunities,” Johnson said. “Jared’s done a nice job. It’s chemistry with those guys, and really, it’s trust in them that, give them a chance, they’ll come down and make a play. So, I think you’re seeing that come to life over the last couple games, and we’ll see if we can continue that trend.
“…It really comes down to us getting past the guys,” Johnson said. “Do we like the matchup on the outside or do we feel confident we’re going to get over the top of safeties? And then, like I said, the more reps we get with these wideouts, and see them come down and make a contested catch, the more trust he has to go ahead and pull that trigger. I would say he probably could have done it a little bit more last game, too. There were a couple other opportunities, so we’re continuing to encourage him to do that, and really start some practice for us where we’re getting in that groove.”
Staying diligent
As noted, Goff has led the charge with the Lions cleaning up the turnovers since the team’s Week 6 bye. Obviously, there was the botched snap in the red zone last week, recovered by the Panthers, but that’s one of just four turnovers in the past nine games.
Impressively, Goff hasn’t thrown an interception in seven straight, extending his personal-best and franchise-record streak to 261 pass attempts. That impressive ball security will be put to the test against a young Bears defense that’s shown a knack for generating takeaways.
In the past two weeks, the Bears have recorded six turnovers, including four interceptions. With two picks each of the past two weeks, the team now has four games with multiple interceptions this season.
“You can tell that they’re being coached to get the ball out,” Johnson said. “They’re punching at the ball, whether it’s a run play or a run after catch, and then they’ve had some really good positions in terms of these interceptions where they’re playing a little bit more zone coverage. So they’ve got vision on the football, and if you’re not precise with your accuracy, then they’re able to make you pay.”
Not turning the ball over in the previous meeting with the Bears proved critical for the Lions, who emerged with a hard-fought 31-30 victory.
Looking for improvement
With safety DeShon Elliott not practicing for the second straight week, Ifeatu Melifonwu is in line for consecutive starts for the first time in his career. The 2021 third-round draft pick struggled last week against Carolina, but coach Dan Campbell is expecting the experience will lead to improvement for the young defensive back.
“I would anticipate we’d see him react quicker,” Campbell said. “I think we’re going to see a player that sees it faster and triggers faster, and he knows what we’re looking for just from what we talked about, the intensity, the aggressiveness. So, yeah, I anticipate we’ll see a better version of Iffy.”
The Lions also have the option of playing C.J. Moore at that spot, but Campbell said they’d prefer to let the veteran focus on his special-teams role, where he’s a leading contributor. Moore saw two defensive snaps last week against the Panthers.
In a rut
Lions running back Jamaal Williams has had a memorable season, scoring 14 touchdowns, but like the rest of the ground game, his efficiency has fallen off a cliff in the second half of the season. He hasn’t averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry in a game since a late-October matchup against the Dolphins and is netting just 2.5 yards per attempt with his 47 December carries.
One factor that could be contributing to the production dip is fatigue. Williams has logged 224 carries through 15 games, nearly 50% more than his previous highest single-season workload. Still, position coach Duce Staley dismissed that as a concern.
“No impact,” Staley said. “Workload has nothing to do with it. We’ve just got to be more efficient. That’s running backs, o-line, everybody. Coaches, we’ve just got to be more efficient and make sure we put our guys in the right place.”
Injury report
In addition to Elliott, the Lions also ruled out backup offensive lineman Kayode Awosika, while center Frank Ragnow (foot), linebacker Josh Woods (bicep) and running back Justin Jackson (hip) are questionable.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers