Tag: Tom Brady

Lions Jared Goff earns MVP talk; Dan Campbell expects the best from his QB

With a 5-1 start to the season, Lions coach Dan Campbell often credits complementary football when the offense, defense and special teams all step up. 

No argument here.

Still, quarterback Jared Goff has been playing lights out. He’s not doing it alone, but he’s accomplishing feats that are remarkable.

“I guess I’m just not surprised, I guess is the best way to say it. I hear these numbers and yeah, he’s playing good. He’s a good quarterback,’’ Campbell said on Monday. “I don’t see this like I’m blown away, I expect that from him. He’s playing at a high level. There are so many little things he does.’’

In the 31-29 win at the Vikings on Sunday, Goff completed 22-of-25 passes (88.0 percent) for 280 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 140.0 passer rating. 

“We put a ton on his plate this week – we put a ton mentally. We asked him to do so much particularly on third down because it’s such a unique defensive scheme that we faced and the amount of pressure and he handled it so good,’’ Campbell said. “Because of that, that helps the rest of the team, it helps the rest of the offense perform at a high level. To me, that’s him.’’

With such stellar play, Goff has worked himself into the conversation for NFL MVP. 

Statistics don’t tell the whole story – as ESPN analyst Booger McFarland said, “Stats are like bikinis. They show some things but not all things.”

Stats don’t show the heart, the fire in the belly and the ice in the veins. Nonetheless Goff is putting up the numbers.

The Lions offense is the only team with more offensive touchdowns (18) than incompletions (16) in a four-game span since the merger. Think about that.

— In any four-game span in NFL history, Goff is the only one to produce a completion percentage of 80.0 percent and a passer rating of 140.0.

—  In each of his last four games, Goff has completed at least 72.0 percent of his passes, thrown for two touchdowns and posted a passer rating of 110.0. The only other player to have a four-game streak with these numbers in a single season was Tom Brady in 2007. 

Not done yet: 

—  Goff is  the fourth quarterback in NFL history to produce a passer rating of 140.0-or-higher in three-straight games, joining: Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971).

— Oh, and at the Vikings, Goff tied the franchise single-game completion percentage record (88.0 percent) in a game with at least 25 attempts.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Campbell was asked about critical comments from Chris Christie following the Lions 47-9 rout at Dallas a week ago. The coach smiled, shook his head and said: “The last time someone called me classless I was drinking wine from the bottle.”

UP NEXT: Tennessee Titans (1-5) at Lions (5-1), 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.

Lions lose in embarrassing fashion to Tampa Bay Bucs

After the embarrassing 47-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Detroit Lions can look for answers but it’s unlikely that they will find them with just one week left in the season.

Saturday’s loss was the worst mix of bad luck and lack of talent for the Lions. NFL COVID quarantine rules kept interim coach Darrell Bevell, defensive coordinator Cory Undlin and other defensive assistants out of the game. 

“We’re not going to make any excuses, we had our team, they had their team and they outperformed us today,’’ said interim interim coach Robert Prince who filled in for Bevell.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford rolled his right ankle in the first quarter and was not able to return.

And, Bucs quarterback Tom Brady ate his Wheaties for breakfast or whatever the equivalent is on his organic, plant-based, nutrient rich TB12 diet. He was on fire with four touchdown passes and a perfect 158.3 rating. He was replaced by Blaine Gabbert early in the third in a smart move by Bucs coach Bruce Arians. The game was over.

The Lions (5-10) have already started the search for a permanent head coach and a general manager. If any candidates watched Saturday’s mess, they might take a hard pass on moving to Detroit or even visiting for an interview. 

“On offense we couldn’t’ stay on the field and on defense we couldn’t get off the field,’’ Prince said. “I think our defense played hard and had an opportunity to get off the field early in that first drive, it got extended (due to a LIons’ penalty) and they ended up getting a few more plays.’’

The Lions defense stinks. Has been bad all season — it cost Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn their jobs. Saturday’s abysmal showing didn’t just happen because Undlin was on COVID quarantine. It would have been bad no matter what. 

They gave up more points than they had all season. And to top that, the LIons defense gave up 588 yards which is a franchise record. The previous high was 566 yards in a game against Kansas City in 1990.

“I would not just blame the defense by any means, it’s a team game. Obviously it was great to get that score by the special teams to come through,’’ Prince said regarding Jamal Agnew’s punt return for a touchdown. “Offensively we have to stay on the field, if we’re not on the field very long for offense and the defense has to stay on obviously it’s going to be tough for them and they’re going to wear out. It was a team loss and it started with me.’’

The offense can be decent. We’ve seen good signs with Bevell making the calls without Matt Patricia in his ear. But Stafford is the engine that runs it and he was out early. He couldn’t even put weight on his foot at first. He hopped into the locker room on one leg, a move he might have picked up from his 3-year-old twins.

So the offense was nowhere near decent on Saturday, converting just one of 10 third-down attempts. They were held scoreless and to just 186 total yards.

Stafford is still dealing with injured ribs. Too soon to know if he will be healthy enough to play next Sunday against the Vikings. He’s tough and will want to play, don’t bet against him.

It’s a sad situation for the Lions. The Bucs were able to take advantage of the Lions many weaknesses. It’s almost the end of a lousy year and this nightmare of a game was one of the worst this season.

Prince said he didn’t think it was a hopeless situation, but from this seat it certainly looked like it.

(Up next: Minnesota Vikings at Lions, 1 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 3)

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Patriots’ QB Tom Brady still going strong at 42 during workout with Detroit Lions

ALLEN PARK — After a grinding joint practice with the Detroit Lions on Monday morning, the New England Patriots ran hill drills and then sang happy birthday to their quarterback, Tom Brady.

“It was a different rendition of  the traditional happy birthday but it was nice,’’ said Brady who turned 42 on Saturday.

On Sunday he signed a two-year contract extension worth $23 million for this season, per ESPN. It was hardly a surprise since Brady has led the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships and has defied age for the past few years.

“Just had a great history, I love playing quarterback here, I love this team, the organization, Mr. (Robert) Kraft, Jonathan (Kraft), coach (Bill) Belichick, all the coaches, all the players,’’ Brady said. “The focus this year is on what we have to do so that’s where I’m focused. That’s all that really matters in the end. That’s what this team expects for me to put everything in it like I always have and I’m real excited for the year. This was good competition today we needed it to see where we’re at and try to make quite a few corrections, go out there tomorrow and see if we can do better.’’

Brady looked sharp during the workouts completing a high percentage of his passes against the Lions’ defense in team drills and seven-on-sevens.

The joint practices will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to the first preseason game for both teams at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Ford Field.

Current Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola, who played for five seasons with the Patriots, is not surprised by Brady’s success and longevity.

“He works extremely hard, he’s very deserving of all he’s got,’’ Amendola said. “I’m happy for him, he’s a good friend. Any time I get to watch him play football is good.’’

Brady was peppered with questions about the future beyond 2021. He has said he wants to play until he’s 45 and seems to be headed in the right direction.

“I’m not worked up about it, I’m secure for this year I think — I got a few first-team reps out there,’’ Brady said with a smile.

“It’s a unique situation. I’m 20 years with the same team, I’ll be 42 years old it’s pretty much uncharted territory,’’ Brady added.

His health is the key for his longevity. In the past 10 years the only games he’s missed was for a four-game suspension in 2016.

“You’ve got to take care of your body. I wrote a book on it literally, I live by it and I think it’s given me pretty good results,’’ said Brady, the author of “The TB12 Method.” “I try to pass it on to the next generation so they don’t have to go through the same mistakes I did. Everyone learns different ways. Hopefully I can be an inspiration, I’ve got a great opportunity to prove to a lot of people they didn’t think I could do it and hopefully I can. Well done is better than well said.’’

“He can play forever,’’ Amendola said.

Brady just loves the game and it shows.

His eyes lit up when he was asked if it was good to be back in the state of Michigan.

“I love it, I love it,’’ he said.

After all he played his college ball 34 miles west of the Lions facility at the University of Michigan.