DETROIT – In the first quarter, Jared Goff held the ball too long in the middle of a pass rush, was sacked and saw a wasted opportunity in the red zone.
Midway through the second, he airmailed a pass right into the hands of Washington’s Quan Martin, who quickly worked his way to a 40-yard pick-6 (complete with Goff being tackled and checked for a concussion).
A few minutes later, just before the end of the first half, Goff arrived late to hit an open Jameson Williams for a touchdown, allowing Washington’s Mike Sainristil to close down the field and intercept the pass.
Perhaps Detroit’s defense was too injury-plagued to ever win the Super Bowl, the legitimate goal after an epic 15-2 regular season and a No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. But the Lions certainly weren’t going to be able to do it when their star quarterback was dragging them down with four total turnovers in the game.
There was little room for error here, certainly when facing a rookie quarterback like Jayden Daniels, who plays like the big-play, calm, grinding veteran that Goff was supposed to be. He threw two touchdowns without picks.
Washington 45, Detroit 31.
Just like that, the NFC race is upside down, the Lions are out, and these bold, dangerous, out-of-nowhere Commanders will face either Philadelphia or the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game on the road next Sunday.
Yet for Detroit, where hope had become a reasonable emotion after generations of emptiness, a lasting question will emerge from the rubble of this collapse.
Even with all of his defensive starters returning from injury next season, is Jared Goff good enough to lead the Lions to the promised land?
It certainly wasn’t Saturday.
Goff finished 23 of 40 for 313 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions (he added the last on the Lions’ final desperate drive) and a lost fumble.
“It sucks,” Goff said. “It sucks. The worst part of this job. You hate it when you feel like you let people down… If I had played better, ‘do we win?’ Probably. And that’s the part that will eat me alive this offseason.
“I’m still processing this,” he continued. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have some rough nights.”
This is true for the entire organization. Head coach Dan Campbell choked up with emotion as he tried to describe the loss, trying to take all the blame while expressing his gratitude for his boys.
“It’s just the players,” Campbell said, his voice breaking. “What they put into it. People don’t know what he goes through. You have to get up. The body is beaten to shit. Stay mentally locked in and do those things. “Long season.”
That said, it wasn’t difficult to identify the main problem: a defense held together by duct tape and a turnover machine at QB.
“As everyone knows, you turn the ball over five times… that’s too many,” Campbell said. “It’s too difficult against a team like that.”
Goff is surrounded by talent: a ridiculous running back like Jahmyr Gibbs, an impressive speedster like Jameson Williams (at least when he’s not passing; he threw an interception on a blown play), a skilled tight end like Sam LaPorta (who made a touchdown grab with one hand) and a sure-fire slot receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown. And then there’s an excellent offensive line.
Much of that was on display Saturday, following the tried-and-true plan as defensive injuries piled up: take advantage of the hot offense, an aggressive mentality and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s tricks to victory.
To do so, Goff didn’t have to be the best quarterback in the league; but even this type of Maserati needs a driver who won’t get in the way of traffic.
“Just bullshit,” Goff said. “I wish I had an answer for you. It just sucks. Yeah, I wish I 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, it was a very bad decision on my part.
“It’s my fault. I have to take better care of him 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 was never able to recover. The Lions defense had some moments, got a couple of stops, but the offense couldn’t reciprocate.
“The defense holds them down, limits the points and we come back and turn the ball over,” Campbell said.
“That’s what I’m beating myself up about,” Goff said. “All three (first-half turnovers) turned into points.”
Goff once led the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl, only to have the offense manage just three points in a loss. Los Angeles sent him to Detroit four years ago because they thought then-Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford could do what Goff couldn’t; lead the Rams to a championship. They sent a slew of draft picks along with Goff to land Stafford, who quickly led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.
Detroit has drafted wisely and seen Goff rebound in his career; but are there limitations? If he was going to throw four interceptions against Washington in the divisional round, was there really any chance he could put together the level of play necessary to win three times in the playoffs?
And can that somehow be different next season, when Detroit should be a contender again, especially when 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. Far better. As good as he has been, as many highlights as this offense has produced, it can’t get very far with a quarterback as an anchor. Was it just a bad night or the ceiling for him?
“It’s a humbling game,” Goff said. “It’s a sport that humiliates.”
It won’t be any less so, even after the pain goes away.