The story of the season so far in the National Football League may be the Detroit Lions—who could be on track to make their first Super Bowl appearance ever. Today on NFL Thursday, we will look at one of the catalysts for the Lions: quarterback Jared Goff, now in his fourth year with the Detroit organization after spending the first five years of his career with the Los Angeles Rams (after being the No. 1 overall pick).

First, let’s revisit the past: on Thanksgiving Day, the Lions started some nobody at QB on national TV. It was a disaster. The usual starter, Matthew Stafford, was out with an injury, and the team was headed toward a 3-12-1 finish. The next season, Detroit merely improved to 5-11, and the organization decided to make a change—trading Stafford to the Rams for Goff, who had a 42-27 record as a starter with Los Angeles.

Of course, Stafford paid immediately dividends right away for the Rams, leading them to a Super Bowl victory in 2021. But since 2022, Goff has delivered a 28-14-1 record for the Lions, improving on his numbers with the Rams—which included a Super Bowl appearance where the result may have been pre-ordained. If you’re keeping score at home, Goff’s overall record as a starter is 77-55-1, including playoffs.

He’s been pretty good at both stops: he posted a 91.5 QB rating in Los Angeles, and his 98.6 QB rating in Detroit is even better. Many of his peripheral numbers are roughly the same, as he has had talent around him in both locales. The rise in QB rating is mostly due to a four-percent increase in his completion percentage from the first five years in the league through to the last three years-plus. That is interesting.

His head coach in Los Angeles was an alleged offensive guru; his coaches in Detroit don’t have that same reputation, but Goff’s performance has improved significantly enough to notice. Improvement comes with age, of course, so maybe this is just Goff in his prime now versus Goff in his infancy then. That alone makes total sense, in truth: this year, he may be peaking at age 30, as his 74.9-percent completion percentage says.

That’s leading the league right now, and the all-time record for this mark in a single season? Drew Brees in 2018, with a 74.4-percent mark. In fact, Brees holds the top three seasons all time here (not cheatin‘ Tom Brady, mind you, whose best season ranks 44th on this list). Maybe Goff can keep it up to set the record, and maybe he cannot. Either way, his transition from young, inexperienced QB to veteran leader is done.

All he needs is a Super Bowl victory to cement his legacy, from No. 1 overall pick to league champion.