Jared Goff Shrugs Off the Fourth-Down Noise After Lions Beat Packers
Goff backs Campbell's gamble deep in Detroit's own end — and the QB has 14 TDs, 0 INTs through six games to justify the trust in his offense.
14 TDs, zero picks through six games — a locked-in QB1 streamer-plus.
- Goff: 1,788 pass yds, 14 TD, 0 INT in 6 games (2026)
- Lions 61.5% on 13 fourth-down tries this season
- NFL-best 89 fourth-down conversions last 5 years
- Goff ranks QB8, our #17 overall (2026 actuals)
- Blocked FG by D.J. Wonnum sealed last-play win
Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down deep in his own territory against Green Bay, and Jared Goff says he didn't think twice about it. The gamble didn't even convert — but D.J. Wonnum blocked Packers rookie Trey Smack's chip-shot field goal, and Detroit won on a last-play kick anyway. Goff, who's thrown for 1,788 yards with 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions through six games this season (2026 actuals), framed the call as simply guaranteeing his offense a shot to win.
The logic Campbell laid out: he trusted his group to pick up one yard more than he trusted stopping Jordan Love on a four-minute drive. Even if the fourth-down try failed, Detroit figured the Packers couldn't fully run the clock, leaving time to respond. That's exactly how it played out — minus the conversion, plus the blocked kick.
Why Detroit Keeps Rolling the Dice
This isn't new for the Lions. Goff pointed back to 2024, when David Montgomery picked up a fourth-and-1 at the Green Bay 21 with 43 seconds left and Jake Bates buried a 35-yard field goal for a 34-31 win. There was backlash then too. Goff's takeaway: the noise never stops, so who cares.
The numbers back the aggression. Detroit leads the NFL with 89 fourth-down conversions over the past five seasons and ranks second in attempts at 154, converting at a 57.8 percent clip. This year they've hit 61.5 percent on 13 tries. Goff's point — that the Lions are more comfortable in these spots because they practice them constantly — isn't just coach-speak when the data agrees.
The Fantasy Angle
For fantasy purposes, this is all upside for Goff managers. An offense that plays four downs instead of three means more volume, more red-zone snaps, and more chances to pile up the kind of clean, efficient production he's delivered — 135 PPR points through six games (2026 actuals), good for QB8 and our #17 overall. Love, on the other side, still sits one spot ahead at QB7 with 137 PPR points (2026 actuals), so this stays a two-QB1 matchup whenever these teams meet.
Verdict: start Goff with confidence. A quarterback in a scheme this aggressive, with zero interceptions on the year, is doing exactly what you draft a QB1 to do. Bates is the trickier hold — he's running 8.7 fantasy points below his season average over his last five (2026), so Lions kicker is a wait-and-see rather than a weekly lock despite all those scoring chances.
