Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions borrowed from Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers to fool the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The moment of deception came in the third quarter of a Victory 34-17when the Lions faked a fumble and Goff threw a touchdown pass.
Goff intentionally tripped while falling. With the Detroit players shouting “Fumble!” and Jahmyr Gibbs pretending to dive for the ball, Goff threw to Sam LaPorta for a 21-yard touchdown that made the score 34-14.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson approached Goff on Monday with a slightly different plan. The quarterback was deliberately fumbling, much like in the classic play known as “fumblerooski.”
Goff didn’t think he could pull it off, so they tweaked the idea. After working on the play in practice, they executed it to perfection against the Bears.
“At first it started on Monday, with Ben asking me if (I) thought I could intentionally fumble and take it back,” Goff said. “I said I don’t know about it. We got out of it pretty quickly and we were like, ‘Let’s just pretend we’re falling or like I’m fumbling but I’m holding the ball.’ I think the role that Gibbs dives into really sells the part, I’m only doing half of it.”
Gibbs and Tim Patrick told ESPN that Johnson’s inspiration for the play came from the Packers’ season-opening victory at Soldier Field last season. Love found a wide open Luke Musgrave for a 37-yard pass after missing the snap.
