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NOTEBOOK: Goff, Lions look to keep offense rolling in Houston Sunday night

Lions quarterback Jared Goff is chasing a record Sunday night in Houston.

Goff leads all NFL quarterbacks with a 74.9 completion percentage this season and ranks second with a 115.0 passer rating.

Over his past six games, he has recorded the highest completion percentage (82.8) and passer rating (140.1) by a player in a six-game span in NFL history.

At Houston Sunday night, Goff can become the first player in NFL history with a completion percentage of 80-or-higher in four consecutive games, and the first player all-time with five such games in a single season.

"A guy that I had in college named John Shoop was one of my mentors, really the reason why I got into coaching. I still remember him when I was a quarterback at Carolina, he said, 'Man I don't know if you guys can go 18-18, but I know you can go one-for-one 18 times," Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said.

"And it feels like that's what's going on with Jared and (Amon-Ra) St. Brown right now, their connection in particular, but just Jared as a whole, he's just – each play is its own play and he knows where to go with the football, he's putting it in a good spot for our guys to not only catch it, but also run after the catch."

Goff is playing disciplined football and distributing to all his weapons. Johnson said for him as a play caller, the way Goff is playing, it makes him want to call more and more passes.

It certainly won't be easy going into Houston Sunday for Goff and this offense. Houston has the No. 2 overall defense (281.7) in the NFL and the No. 3 passing defense (167.4).

"Yeah, they're good," Goff said of a Houston defense that also ranks second in passes defended (49) and fourth in sacks (29.0). "They're really good. They're really well coached. They remind me of San Francisco, no surprise – back when I was in L.A. in the division, San Francisco, when (Texans head coach) DeMeco (Ryans) was there, it was similar.

"Very good defense and good up front, good at the linebacker position, good at the defensive backs. Really well coached, sound, they do a good job."

ROAD WARRIOR

Amon-Ra St. Brown has been a touchdown machine the last month and a half.

St. Brown has a touchdown reception in six consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL, and since Week 16 of the 2023 season, has a touchdown catch in each of his past six road games.

He can become the sixth wide receiver since 2000, and first since Davante Adams in 2017-18, to record a touchdown reception in seven consecutive road games Sunday in Houston.

View some of the best photos through the first half of the Detroit Lions 2024 season.

RUSHING DEFENSE

Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is doing a terrific job with Detroit's defense this season. Detroit ranks first in third-down defense (29.9 percent), fourth in red-zone efficiency (43.5), third in takeaways (16) and fifth in points allowed (18.5).

They'll need another good effort this week against a good Texans offense. Over the course of the last four weeks Houston running back Joe Mixon has recorded six total touchdowns (five rushing & one receiving) tied for the most in the NFL through Weeks 6-9.

If there's one area where Detroit's defense could afford to tighten up a bit, it's run defense. Over the last three weeks Detroit's defense allowed 90-plus rushing yards and a 4.7-plus per carry average against Green Bay's Josh Jacobs (95 yards, 7.3 avg.), Tennessee's Tony Pollard (94, 4.7) and Minnesota's Aaron Jones (90, 6.6).

EXTRA POINT

Through the first eight games of the season, the Lions have only allowed six passing touchdowns. This is their lowest since allowing only five through the first eight games of the 1986 season.

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