It was a play that’s been in the works for a while now, but Monday night was the right time and the right place.
“That play’s been in for a long time and we’ve just never gotten in the right situation for it to get called,” Goff told reporters after the game. “I think we actually have called it in a game before, and then if it’s not the right look I get out of it, but that was the right look.”
Detroit’s high-profile and high-octane offense had yet to light up the scoreboard through the first three weeks, having failed to score more than 26 points.
Campbell wasn’t worried, though, and Monday’s showing was evidence as to why he remained confident that the Goff-led group would get revved up eventually.
“We knew this was coming offensively,” Campbell said. “Everybody did. That’s why you can’t worry about this and that. You can’t start panicking. You just work, and you clean everything up.”
While Goff pinpointed his passes in the first half, it was the running game of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs that powered the offense, with the tandem combining for three scores that led to a 21-7 halftime lead.
After the Seahawks cut the deficit to 21-14 in the third quarter, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson dialed up the razzle dazzle.
“We had it in this week,” St. Brown told NFL Network’s Taylor Bisciotti. “If we had the right alert, we were going to call it. I’m in the huddle. He calls it, he’s like here we go. I mean if I can’t catch one, I’ll throw one, so let’s do it.”
For a moment in time, Goff was tied for the team lead on the season with one touchdown catch.
He changed all that, though, when he delivered a laser over the middle to Williams while staring down a Seahawks pass rush and the speedy wideout took it to the house. It was Goff’s 15th straight completion of the game.
On his 17th, he returned the favor with an 8-yard TD toss to St. Brown.
Williams and Brown are now tied for the season lead with two TD catches apiece, just one ahead of Goff.
As for what the St. Brown-to-Goff scoring play is called, well it’s Alcatraz, and the quarterback isn’t quite sure why.
“It’s been called Alcatraz for two or three years now,” Goff said. “I guess I never asked [Johnson] why. There probably is a reason. I probably should know it, I just don’t know.”
Regardless of the origin of the play’s name, there was no escaping Goff on Monday night.
He was the quarterback who had more touchdown catches than incompletions.
He was the Detroit Lion who threw a perfect game the night before the Detroit Tigers begin the Major League playoffs.
He was the QB who didn’t get a game ball or even a perfect passer rating, but he rekindled the Lions’ offense en route to victory.
“Awesome. Yeah, really cool,” Goff said of going 18 for 18. “It’s a cool thing to have I guess, but I’m happy we got the win.”
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