Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Why was Jared Goff’s 18-of-18 performance vs. Seattle a “perfect” passer rating? We explain here: When it comes to quarterback performances, it doesn’t get much better than what Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff did to the Seattle Seahawks. Goff finished the game going 18-of-18 for 292 yards, two touchdowns, and obviously zero interceptions. He even added a 7-yard touchdown grab. Goff’s night set an NFL record for most passes in an entire game without an incompletion. “I don’t think I’ve ever done it,” Goff said of his incomplete-less night. “I knew I did it in the first half last week, so I was aware of it then, and I was kind of aware of it today – middle of the third quarter, I was like, I couldn’t think of one.” Yet despite not throwing a single incompletion, Goff didn’t finish with a perfect passer rating. His 155.8 rating was just short of the “perfect” 158.3 rating. How in the world is an 18-of-18 performance with nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns not a perfect performance? Does it have to do with the sacks he took? The late safety he surrendered? The incomplete pass he threw that was nullified by an offensive penalty? The answer is none of that. The answer is that passer rating is an extremely flawed statistic that requires four components for a perfect rating, and Goff only had three of them. To have a perfect passer rating, a quarterback needs to (with a minimum 10 passes): Have a minimum completion percentage of 77.5% Average at least 12.5 yards per attempt Have zero interceptions And have a touchdown percentage of at least 11.875% Goff obviously met the completion percentage threshold with 100% completion percentage. He averaged a whopping 16.2 yards per attempt. He didn’t throw an interception. However, his two touchdown passes out of 18 passing attempts produced a TD percentage of 11.1%, less than a single percent away from the “perfect” threshold. The obvious flaw in this formula is that Goff surpassed the other thresholds handily. If he had thrown one incompletion and gone 17-of-18, he still would have met the completion percentage threshold and his passer rating wouldn’t have changed. He also doesn’t get any additional bonuses for averaging nearly four yards more per attempt than the “perfect” threshold. In other words, passer rating is a weird, somewhat arbitrary statistic that does not truly capture “perfection” with a perfect passer rating. If you’re interested in getting more info on how passer rating is calculated and why it’s so flawed, our friends at our sister site Secret Base did a great video on it just two weeks ago. You’re still perfect in our books, Jared.