GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Two weeks after admitting to his mistake, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell made a point of recognizing his quarterback following another impressive win.
Two weeks ago, Campbell told reporters that he felt “awful” after realizing that he didn’t give Jared Goff a game ball after the Lions’ 42-29 win over Seattle. He said he didn’t realize Goff went a “perfect” 18 for 18 for 292 yards and three scores. Following Sunday’s blowout win over the Cowboys, he made a point of rectifying his error.
“I do have two game balls, and this time I wrote down some stats,” Campbell said, eliciting some laughs from the team. “Let’s start here on offense. 18 for 25, 315 yards passing, alright? Three (touchdowns), 153.8 quarterback rating. Jared Goff!”
To his credit, Goff deflected the credit, showered his coach with some praise and actually returned the game ball.
“Our (expletive) head coach is our (expletive) rock now. We’re in (expletive) Dallas in his (expletive) place where he played. The game ball (expletive) goes to him,” Goff said to raucous cheers from his teammates.
The two shared a hug as Campbell smiled humbly before breaking down the postgame huddle.
Campbell and the Lions are 4-1 on the season. Goff has done his part, completing 82% of his passes for 806 yards and eight total touchdowns over his last three games.
With the 47-9 win on Sunday, Detroit has now scored at least 40 points in back-to-back games. Team officials said that hasn’t happened since 1962.
The Lions (4-1) return to action Sunday with a stiff road test against NFC North rival Minnesota (5-0). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.