DETROIT – In the first quarter, Jared Goff held the ball too long on a pass rush, was sacked and saw a red zone opportunity thrown away.
Midway through the second, he sent a pass straight into the hands of Washington’s Quan Martin, who promptly slalomed his way to a 40-yard pick-6 (complete with Goff being decked and checked for a concussion).
A few minutes later, just before the end of the first half, Goff was late to hit an open Jameson Williams for a touchdown, allowing Washington’s Mike Sainristil to close down and intercept the pass.
Perhaps Detroit’s defense was too injured to ever win the Super Bowl, the rightful goal after an epic 15-2 regular season and a No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. But the Lions certainly wouldn’t be able to do that as their star quarterback dragged them down with a total of four turnovers in the game.
There was little room for error here, especially when facing a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels, who is playing like the game-changing, calm veteran Goff should have been. He threw two TDs against no picks.
Washington 45, Detroit 31.
Just like that, the NFC race is turned upside down, the Lions are out, and these bold, dangerous, come-from-nowhere Commanders will face Philadelphia or the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game on the road this Sunday.
But for Detroit, where hope has become a reasonable emotion after generations of emptiness, an enduring question will emerge from the rubble of this collapse.
Even if all the defensive starters return from injury next season, is Jared Goff good enough to lead the Lions to the promised land?
He certainly wasn’t on Saturday.
Goff finished 23 of 40 for 313 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions (he added the last on the Lions last-ditch drive) and one lost fumble.
“It sucks,” Goff said. “Sucks. The worst part of this job. You hate it when you feel like you’re letting guys down… If I had played better, ‘will we win?’ Possibly. And that’s the part that will eat me alive this season.
“I’m still processing this,” he continued. “Unfortunately, there are some tough nights ahead.”
This applies to the entire organization. Head coach Dan Campbell choked with emotion as he tried to describe the loss, taking all the blame while expressing his appreciation for his boys.
“It’s just the players,” Campbell said, his voice catching. “What they put into it. People don’t know, you know, what they’re going through. You have to get up. Body is beaten to perfection. Stay mentally locked in and do those things. Long season.”
That said, it wasn’t hard to identify the main problem: a defense held together by tape and a turnover machine at QB.
“As everyone knows, you turn the ball over five times… it’s just too much,” Campbell said. “It’s too difficult against a team like that.”
Goff is surrounded by talent: a ridiculous running back in Jahmyr Gibbs, a breathtaking speedster in Jameson Williams (at least when he’s not passing; he threw a dick on a botched gadget play), a skilled tight end in Sam LaPorta (who made a touchdown- one-handed grab) and a surefire slot receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown. And then there’s an excellent offensive line.
So much of that was on display Saturday, following the tried-and-true blueprint as defensive injuries piled up: ride the hot offense, an aggressive mentality and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s guile to victory.
This didn’t require Goff to be the best quarterback in the league; but even this kind of Maserati needs a driver who doesn’t get involved in traffic.
“Just nonsense,” Goff said. “I wish I had an answer for you. It’s just stupid. Yeah, I wish I could have played a little better. I wish I could have taken better care of the ball. I wish I could have gotten the Pick 6 back, that was a really bad decision on my part.
‘It’s up to me. I have to take better care of it and if I had done that we would have given ourselves a better chance to win.”
The game was lost in that disastrous second quarter, when a 7-3 Lions lead evaporated into a 31-21 Washington lead from which Detroit could never recover. The Lions defense had some moments and got a few stops, but the offense couldn’t answer.
“The defense holds them down, limits the points and we come back and turn the ball over,” Campbell said.
“That’s what I beat myself up about,” Goff said. “All three [first-half turnovers] converted into points.”
Goff once led the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl, but the offense managed just three points in a loss. LA sent him to Detroit four years ago because it thought then-Lions QB Matthew Stafford could do what Goff couldn’t; lead the Lions to a championship. They sent a plethora of draft picks along with Goff to get Stafford, who promptly led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.
Detroit has acted wisely and has seen Goff enjoy a career resurgence; but are there any limitations? If he was going to throw four interceptions against Washington in the Divisional Round, was there really a chance he could find the level of play needed to win three times?
And could that be different in some way next season, when Detroit should be a contender again, especially if Aidan Hutchinson and the defense return?
“What do we need to improve?” Campbell said of his offseason to-do list. “What do we need to fix?”
Goff will have to be better. A lot better. As good as he has been and as many highlights as this offense has produced, it can only go so far with a quarterback as its anchor. Was this just a bad night, or the ceiling for him?
“It’s a humbling game,” Goff said. “It’s a humiliating sport.”
It will not subside even after the pain of this wears off.