Jared Goff, Ben Johnson-led Lions offense rolling, can’t be slowed: Inside QB’s epic efficiency since Week 4

Lately, no defense in the NFL has been able to stop Jared Goff. The Lions veteran quarterback, operating the brilliant scheme of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, has been on an unprecedented heater in his last three times out.

After compiling the highest quarterback rating in back-to-back games in NFL history — 157.7 — in Week 4 and the post-bye Week 6 destruction of the Cowboys, Goff “regressed” to a rating 140.0 in the 31-29 road victory over the previously unbeaten Vikings. 

And to put that offensive masterpiece into further context — entering the game, filtering out garbage time, Minnesota’s defense was allowing -0.489 expected points added per drop back this season, the best in the NFL by a significant margin. In Week 7, Goff and Co. registered an EPA per dropback of +0.700, the second highest in football before “Monday Night Football”‘s double-header. 

Remember, too, in the Week 4 win over the Seahawks, Goff completed 100% of his 18 attempts. After his 22-of-25 performance in Minnesota, Goff has now completed 58 of 68 of his last throws — 85.2% — at an even more seismic 13 yards-per-attempt average with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. 

Today, it’s easy to slide into a debate whether a quarterback is a game-changer or a game manager. And although the term “game manager” has a more positive connotation than it did, say, a decade ago, it’s still a descriptor for a passer beholden to the scheme he’s orchestrating. 

While no one would argue Goff’s talent is elite, he’s become an elite operator of Johnson’s scheme — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

And the aerial portion of this offense is predicated on three things: play-action passing, attacking the middle and dispersing the football to running backs in the flat to keep defenses honest across the entire field. 

Combining two of those elements together, on play-action throws over the middle, Goff is 24 of 29 for 378 yards with one touchdown and one pick, good for a rating of 115.9. On play-action altogether, Goff has the highest completion rate in football at 79.4% with a league-high 12.3 yards-per-attempt average and NFL-best 31 passing first downs. 

Check these in-breaking routes against the Vikings that featured exquisite timing, rhythm and ball placement in the vacancy over the linebackers and in front of the safeties. It’s a soft spot the best offenses in football attempt to exploit, especially against the blitz-heaviest team in football.

Repeatedly attacking the middle of the field means an offense is targeting, technically, linebackers and safeties. When it’s doing that effectively, instead of throwing toward cornerbacks — the coverage specialists on defense — the offense will typically win individual matchups. 

Smartly, though, Johnson and Goff understand they have to stay unpredictable. To be this efficient, the offense can be centered around one area of the field with play-action. And the natural counter is to utilize the running backs and tight ends outside the numbers — typically in the flat or on wheel routes — to keep the entire width of the field on the mind of the defense on every snap. 

After Week 7, Goff is averaging an NFL-high 10.3 yards per attempt with the sixth-best 121.9 rating on throws outside the numbers to running backs or tight ends. For as frequently as Goff has hit the big play in these first six games of the 2024 campaign — he’s tied for 10th with eight completions on throws with 20-plus air yards — as a savvy veteran, he understands how vital it is to get the backs and tight ends involved and a different portion of the field than where he and Johnson want to primarily attack with the receivers. 

What’s fascinating, too — this is not simply a byproduct of Goff having ages to throw every time he drops back. In fact, he was pressured on 58.6% of his dropbacks against the Vikings, the highest rate in football in Week 7 through Sunday’s action. On the season, Goff’s been pressured on 36.2% of his drop backs, the 13th-highest percentage in the NFL. 

But it hasn’t mattered. Especially of late. Because Goff and Johnson are in such lockstep, the ball is often out quickly. Even when it’s not, Goff’s anticipatory skills allow him to push the football downfield and have it arrive on time. 

Right now, no quarterback-coordinator duo is cooking like this duo in Detroit.