Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has been a significant reason the team still has an opportunity to earn a spot in the playoffs.
“I mean it’s awesome. I mean he’s a true professional. It’s a good thing he’s played for what, 10 years now? He’s seen a lot of ball. He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t blink,” said offensive coordinator John Morton. “I mean there’s times where he’s getting his butt kicked, he just gets right back up. That’s one of his strengths, he’s mentally tough. And his preparation is the key to our success, just like everybody. I mean our guys, they do a great job, our coaches do a great job preparing everybody.
“But when you’ve got a guy like that, it’s pretty special. And when things don’t go right and through his preparation, he sees certain things and gets to it just like he did a couple weeks ago,” Morton added. “And it’s helped us. It’s helped us a few times. But run and pass, he always gets us in the right play. That just takes a lot off our plate when you’ve got a guy like that.”
This season, Goff has managed and worked though constant offensive line shuffling, losing his two top tight ends and Dan Campbell making the decision to take over play-calling duties.
Despite an elevated level of disruptions, the offense remains one of the highest-scoring units in the National Football League.
Morton still spends a significant amount of time throughout the week communicating with the 31-year-old and watching film.
This season, the former No. 1 overall pick is fifth in passing yards (3,334), second in touchdown passes (26), with a QBR rating of 56.5.
“We communicate all throughout the whole week. Every day we’re communicating. We watch film, we talk me and him and then I communicate with Dan (Campbell) and everything,” said Morton. “So, it’s just been awesome. I can’t say enough about him, how he’s playing.”
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Over the last two months, the team has not been able to stack victories. The remaining four games, Goff and the roster are seeking to use the momentum gained from the Cowboys victory to propel them to victories over the Rams, Steelers, Vikings and Bears.
Essentially, the team is in playoff mode now, given the importance each of the remaining four games will have on the NFC playoff chase.
“No doubt, oh yeah. I mean sure, there’s four games left. You can do that with a game or two left, you can kind of put it all together and find it,” said Goff. “And yeah, we’d like to put it all together this week and start that upward trajectory. Well really started last week, scoring 44, our defense playing the way they did and finding a way to win, we’ve started that upward trajectory and got to find a way to continue it this week.”
Goff indicated the team still has control over what occurs the remainder of the season, starting with the pursuit of victory against the Los Angeles Rams.
“It’s been great. We’re 8-5 and have got a lot of games ahead of us,” Goff said. “We still control a lot of what we can do here and want to find a way to win the next game.”
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