RedRamage

Oh man... that would be a very, very hard pill for me to swallow. I don't know if I could root for Rodgers.

So another road game for Goff is in the books and the results are.... inconclusive. Goff definitely did not have is best game... just 23 completions on 38 attempts. He did cross 252 total yards, but 20% of that came on one play... that play also accounted for his lone TD. He averaged 6.6 yard on those 38 attempts, well under his 7.5 average this season. Now on first blush that all seems to play into the idea that Goff is much worse on the road vs. home, right? Well, not so fast. Looking at a few other numbers: The Lions managed just 107 yards on the ground compared to 126 average per game this season. This means there wasn't quite as much of a rushing threat to keep defenses honest. However, beyond that the Jets are just a really good defense. They've allowed the 4th fewest yards in the NFL this season. They also allow the 3rd fewest yards per attempt of just 5.8 yards per attempt... which if you'll look at the paragraph above, the Lions beat. So all in all... I'd saying this is a totally inconclusive. Goff didn't have a great game, but he was on the road (always harder) and was up against a top 5 defense. I would expect ANY QBs numbers to dip a bit in that situation. And Goff still have over 250 yards, still got a TD, and didn't throwing any INTs, take a sack, or fumble. That's far from what I'd consider a 'bad' performance.

I will say that last year and previous years I always feared a 3rd and 5+ cause it always seemed impossible that the Lions would pick that up. These days I feel more surprised when they don't pickup a 3rd and 5.

I've said this before, but I consider anything said in game to be "off the record." I think most of us (I know it's true for me) then to way overreact to stuff in game. I'm very rarely in the thread during the game cause I'm usually watching on delay so I can skip through the commercials, but I know I have plenty of reactions during the game where I'm calling out player-X for stupidity one play, then praising him for his brilliance two plays later.

Personal opinion of course but I think Belichick gets WAY too much credit for the Brady years.

Apparently no team as tied twice in a season since OT was added in 1974.

He may have a chip on his shoulder, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to play well. He averaged ~180 yards per game, completing just 55.5% of his passes. He also has more INTs than TDs.

I think the script for this video was written by @Motown Bombers. Seriously though, he makes some compelling arguments and I think Motown Bomber would agree with most of it. While I'm still holding out for the next few weeks to see how Goff does, I can still still appreciate this video and heck... how can you not like this:

Ohhh... things just got interesting.

That might might some sense, yeah... Obviously these are all things that would need to get worked out if they ever wanted to play "real" games here.

Yeah it seem like there's sufficient room on the other side honestly so I dunno why they are sharing a side line. If they really think it's too small on the one side, pivot on the top left corner of the field and swing the bottom to the left a bit. I hadn't really thought about capacity... I was more just looking at distance from the field for the fans. Many other multi-purpose stadium end up with HUGE field space with the fans well removed. Here the only spot where that happens is the green monster. Heck, put some collapsible seating in the wall that can slide out during football games and you could increase capacity while also further eliminated 'wasted' space. For the record: I seriously doubt it would ever happen... just thinking out loud.

Would Fenway somehow be the best Dual Purpose Stadium?!?

Well, just for the fun of it, I'll beat the dead horse again. Part of this is explained by seeing Stafford week after week and knowing that he has very good abilities and talent. Part of it is being intimately familiar with the Lions and the coaching staff and know how inept they were. Flip this with seeing a previous SB leading QB start to struggle. See that QBs coaching staff and front office trying to replace him. It's easier to "give up" on a guy that you don't know all the details on. Part of this is seeing Goff struggle at times last year, knowing that we had a sucky team, but not seeing him necessarily bring up the level of team play. Part of this is seeing that we have now a great OL and some really good receivers and wondering if Goff's resurgence is Goff or just that great talent around him would let "any" QB win. Part of this is seeing home/road splits that are a little scary. All of this is just generalized feelings and I very much admit that there are details surrounding everything situation I discussed above. But putting this all together makes me feel: "I'm not 100% sold on Goff, yet." I'm also not calling for a us to draft a QB in the first round next year to replace Goff either... at least not yet. The next 4 games will be important for me.

...says the person who said Stafford and Goff were the same. 😁

Given the way the league has moved I'm a little surprised that Marino is still number 1. It's such a passing league right now.

Yes and no... I mean there were definitely some little "extras" thrown in like "Well, if you're unsatisfied with Goff because of his trajectory then you should have also been unhappy about Stafford because his is similar."

I think we've probably beat this discussion into the ground. I think there's enough evidence to still hold out some question on whether Goff is the QB of the future (as in the next 3-5 years) where as I get the impression that you feel the Goff's production this year is enough evidence that we should ride him for the near future (don't want to put words in your mouth, so lemme know if that's not what you're thinking/saying). I doubt very much that we're going to reach a conscious on this without at least seeing the remainder of this seasons games... and that's fine. In the long run I very, very much doubt Holmes will be calling either of us up for advice on the QB position for 2023.

Throwing out Stafford second year where he played only 3 games, here are Goff and Stafford's numbers. If there was a 10% increase or decrease vs. previous year I highlighted that (please note I just look at the numbers quick I may have missed one or two). Looking at just these numbers would you not feel concern that the guy on the left is trending in the wrong direction? Now again, let me make it abundantly clear: The numbers don't tell the whole story so simply using the numbers and writing off a guy is not smart. But if you see a trend like this and then you see an anomaly year I think it's also not smart to assume the anomaly is the true measure of the guy.

Which is something I'm admitted... repeatedly.

But would say this is the "normal" trend for QBs? Just to make it 100% clear here: I am NOT giving up on Goff. I am NOT saying Goff is trash. I am NOT saying that Goff will fall apart. What I am saying is that the fact that Goff has really good numbers 4 years ago is NOT proof by itself that Goff will sustain his good numbers this year and into next. He might very well improve with a good OL, great weapons, and a creative OC. There is a very good chance he will. But I don't think it's unreasonable to hold out some of level of concern that this 3/4rds of a season might be the fluke and that the previous 4 years of dropping numbers is the norm. Right now Goff is playing FANTASTIC ball at home. He's playing mediocre ball on the road. That's a small sample size and there were other factors involved of course. So I hope Goff goes out, plays even just good ball on the road and shuts me up. Until he does that I don't think it's out of line to say I have concerns.

I think it would be really fascinating to see a list of first round picks and grade 'em on their career... just to get an idea what percentage end up being stars... what percentage end up being good... or being just okay... or being busts.

Goff has ONE season with a ESPN QBR over 60 on pro-football-reference prior to this season. He has ONE season with a better than 3:1 TD to INT ratio prior to this season. His net-yards per attempt peaked in 2018 and has steadily declined until this year. His yards per game peaking in 2018 and has also declined every since until this year. I'm not saying Goff is trash, but there has been a steady decline in his career. Was that because he was being used wrong? Was that because his team wasn't good around him? Was that because his coach didn't like him? Was it because he peaked early and the league figured him out? Maybe some of all of it... I dunno. But it's not unreasonable to be worried that after four years of steady decline that this is an outliner rather than a new trend. I fully understand that football is a complex game and many factors are involved other than just one player. I believe I've said repeatedly that I'm unsure... not that I'm out on Goff. I've also said that I want him to prove my doubts/concerns wrong. But I think the idea that we shouldn't have any doubt that this is the "real" Goff because he was good 4 years ago (and just ignore that he steadily declined in between then and now) is silly. Last year I think nearly everyone figured he was a bridge QB... just keep the seat warm for whomever we drafted. This year he's convincing a lot of people that he could very well be the QB of the future... I'm just not convinced totally yet.

Those are all valid points and I don't dispute them at all. I hope that Goff proves these splits aren't an accurate way to measure him over the next few weeks.

I don't know that I would say that Goff passed the test against the Giants. I mean I guess he didn't fail the test, but the Giants game was not a great game for him. He threw for the second fewest yards (165) of any game this year. He didn't have any TDs. Only 17 completions (again second fewest) on 26 attempts. Granted, he also didn't have any INTs which was good and the run game was mostly working so we won handily without Goff needing to throw 250+ yards. I dunno... I know I've posted a lot of negative Goff stuff lately. I'm not anti-Goff... I'm honestly very happy with him this season and I don't think we need to draft a replacement this coming draft. But as others have said: I think you look at upgrading every position and I don't think QB should be exempt from this. I'm not convinced (yet) that Goff can sustain this level of play. But we've got three potentially challenging road games to finish out this year. I certain hope that Goff makes me look silly for doubting him.