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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
DETROIT — After Monday night’s victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell admitted to feeling “awful” for not giving quarterback Jared Goff a game ball to commemorate an NFL record-setting performance that saw him complete all 18 of his passes.
Campbell said he didn’t initially realize what Goff had accomplished and instead gave the game balls to wide receiver Jameson Williams and safety Kerby Joseph.
But the coach worked hard Tuesday to make it right.
“Yeah, we did, we found one,” Campbell said. “Yes, we did. And look, normally what we do is, I’ll give out an immediate game ball afterward, and then normally we always have another one or two that show up when we do it here the day after the game, after a win.
“So that was an easy one to get him that one. It’s a great job. And [offensive coordinator] Ben [Johnson] still got his, too.”
Goff also didn’t keep the ball from his first touchdown reception after he caught a 7-yard pass from teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown at 6:57 of the third quarter in Monday’s 42-29 win. Instead, he launched it into the Ford Field stands, which was also impressive to Campbell.
“Oh, I saw it, that was unbelievable, it was outstanding,” Campbell said. “It was a hell of a throw. I thought he was going to hit [Lions mascot] Roary at first.”
Goff ended up with 292 yards passing and two touchdowns as Detroit moved to 3-1. He recorded a 95.1 QBR, the highest by a Lions quarterback since the metric was introduced in 2006, per ESPN Research.
His 16.2 yards per attempt was also the highest in “Monday Night Football” history (minimum 10 passes).
“I’m just happy we got the win,” Goff said following the game.