the press & others on the Seattle loss

from NFL Week 16 PFF ReFocused: Seattle Seahawks 20, Los Angeles Rams 9

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-16-pff-refocused-seattle-seahawks-20-los-angeles-rams-9

What could have been perhaps dismissed as just a bad day at the office a week ago now has the look of something more systemic for the Los Angeles Rams‘ offense. They failed to fire once again and ceded their chance to take the NFC West with a 20-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16.

STORY OF THE GAME

The Rams’ defense largely held up its end of the bargain, frustrating Russell Wilson for the second time this season and holding the Seahawks to just 20 points. But it turned out that was more than double what they would need to secure the win given Los Angeles’ problems on offense.

Jared Goff had another ugly performance, making multiple turnover-worthy plays — including an interception — and producing an inefficient passing game for the second week running. The Rams’ passing game actually averaged negative expected points added per play, effectively digging themselves an ever-deeper hole the more they threw the ball.

A week ago, the story was that the Rams’ interior offensive line was destroyed by the Jets, and when that platform for the offense is eroded, they simply can’t fire. While Austin Blythe didn’t have a great game at guard, that doesn’t explain the disaster this time around.

You don’t exactly emerge from this game with a huge degree of confidence that either team has what it takes to run the table in the NFC and take it to the best teams in the league, but the Seahawks will at least host a playoff game having secured the division with this win.

The Rams still have to secure a wild-card spot, but they will also be spending some pretty significant time trying to identify what’s gone wrong with this offense in recent weeks and whether it can be put back together by the time the playoffs start.

If things go as expected, this will also likely prove to be a repeat matchup in the first week of the postseason, giving the Rams a quick chance at redemption.

ROOKIE WATCH
Wideout Van Jefferson played 14 snaps on offense for the Rams, dropping the only target thrown his way to somewhat typify the entire offense’s day. On defense, Jordan Fuller remains a starter at safety, seeing 61 snaps of action and making six tackles. None of those six tackles were defensive stops, and he was beaten for a touchdown in coverage.

Terrell Lewis played 15 snaps on the edge but was largely absent of any kind of impact.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Jared Goff, on unforced errors: “I just need to stop making a play if it’s not there. That’s what the result of the (interception) was today, just dumb. Just really dumb. I’m a lot smarter than that, I’ve made a lot better plays than that. I just need to try not to make something

out of nothing sometimes, and take what they give me.” In followup, I asked where he thinks lapse in judgement comes from. “It’s just a natural response to trying to make something happen. I’m the QB of this team and I’m trying to score some points. Unfortunately, it has

led to some dumb decisions. Specifically today, specifically just that (interception), honestly. It just can’t happen. Can’t do it.”

While Goff did dislocate his right thumb, and put it back in place to finish the game, it’s going to be a situation where the Rams see – even if further testing confirms a break – if he can manage it enough to play as was the case today. He called his status “uncertain”.

They need to first see, after further testing, if he can grip and throw – regardless of whether testing shows a dislocation or a break.

Rams’ Jared Goff continues to regress, with only himself to blame

Molly Knight

https://theathletic.com/2287538/2020/12/27/jared-goff-turnovers-rams-seahawks/?source=twittered

When the Rams clobbered the Patriots this month they looked like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. But after two dreadful games from quarterback Jared Goff, they might not even make the playoffs.

It’s one thing to lose to the winless Jets at home, as the Rams did last week. Losing late in the season to the Seahawks on the road, as the Rams did on Sunday, normally would not be embarrassing. But the pandemic kept the famously loud 12th man out of the stadium in Seattle. Goff has no one to blame for his mistakes but the growing noise in his head.

The Rams’ defense was tremendous again. It held one of the better teams in the NFL to just 292 yards of offense and did not give up a touchdown until the third quarter. The Rams’ offense was stuck in neutral yet again and failed to score a touchdown. The Rams lost 20-9 and watched Seattle clinch the NFC West title that they looked like a lock to win three weeks ago. If the Rams lose next week to Arizona — and red-hot Chicago beats Green Bay — they will miss the playoffs altogether.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After Goff threw 16 interceptions last year compared to just 22 touchdowns, coach Sean McVay spent the offseason adjusting the offense so that Goff would not turn the ball over. But shortening the amount of air yards Goff attempts has made all the interceptions he’s thrown that much more inexplicable. He has thrown 13 picks through 15 games this year, and the worst one came on Sunday.

“One of the worst plays I think I’ve made in my career,” Goff said after the game.

With the Rams driving and reaching the Seahawks’ 29-yard line toward the end of the first half, Goff took a first-down snap and rolled out to his right. His intended receiver, Robert Woods, was covered at the 20, but Goff could have scrambled out of bounds for an easy five or six yards. Instead, he chose to lob the ball toward the 10-yard line, where it was easily picked off by free safety Quandre Diggs. There was no Rams receiver within seven yards of where the ball landed, in Diggs’ hands.

Goff finished 24 of 43 with 234 yards and a QB rating of 61.6. Meanwhile, back at SoFi Stadium, Justin Herbert set the NFL’s all-time rookie record for touchdowns in a season with 28 to lead the lowly Chargers to their third straight victory. These two things might not seem related, but how much better would Rams fans feel right now if their team was entering the playoffs with the rookie Herbert instead of the veteran Goff?

When the Rams signed Goff to a $134 million contract extension a year ago, including a then-record $110 million guaranteed, they certainly didn’t expect he would do nothing but regress. McVay has already watered down the offense to try to protect Goff from himself. And now that running backs Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson are dealing with injuries, it’s unclear who the Rams can rely on to get the ball into the end zone if Goff keeps turning it over.

If Goff weren’t owed so much money, the Rams would probably be considering a quarterback change right now. Terry Bradshaw even suggested they trade for Lions QB Matthew Stafford on the Fox broadcast earlier in December. But the money Goff is owed makes that next to impossible, at least until after the 2022 season.

At this point, the Rams’ best hope may be to select a quarterback in the later rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft and hope that this pandemic led to a scouting meltdown that caused a future star signal-caller to be overlooked.

What is there to say about Goff and the Rams at this point that hasn’t been said? His entire career has hinged on the promise of future greatness. He set the Pac-12 single-season passing record as a junior at Cal, but in his three years at Berkeley, his teams went 0-12 against USC, UCLA, Oregon and Stanford.

When the Rams drafted Goff No. 1 overall in 2016, it was under the assumption that if he was ever surrounded by superlative talent, he could dominate the NFL. It’s tough to imagine Goff with a better supporting cast, save for a running back who could do what Todd Gurley did when the Rams made the Super Bowl two years ago, but this Rams defense is playing at a championship level. Not only is Aaron Donald demonstrating why he’s one of the best defensive linemen to ever play the game, but younger players like nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and free safety John Johnson also seem to be improving every week. The secondary, led by Jalen Ramsey, is among the best in the league.

Perhaps the most maddening part of Goff’s struggles is that he has the perfect receiving corps for what the Rams are trying to have him do. Woods and Cooper Kupp can both catch and hold on to every single 7-yard pass thrown at them, and they’re both excellent blockers in the run game. If the Rams could just hold on to the football, their defense would be good enough to carry the team to a Super Bowl title. But, obviously, if Goff could hold on to the football with any reliability, he would do it. And now he’s dealing with a thumb injury, the severity of which we don’t know yet.

I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to try to complete a pass while running away from 300-pound athletic freaks of nature who are paid to separate me from the ball in my hands. But I also wasn’t drafted No. 1 overall and given hundreds of millions of dollars to figure it out.

With the way Goff is playing right now, the Rams might not beat the Cardinals next Sunday. Arizona is much better than the Jets. And if the Bears do beat the Packers to knock the Rams out of the playoffs, Rams fans will feel like they’ve been dropkicked into the Jeff Fisher era all over again.

How on earth did we get here? After inexcusable clock management leading to losses, the Chargers were supposed to be the L.A. football team that finished the season as a punchline. But the Rams still control their fate. All they have to do is beat the Cardinals, and they’re back in the playoffs.

After Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, McVay deflected blame from Goff onto himself for not calling better plays. And to the extent that Goff’s quarterback play is an extension of what McVay tells him to do on the field, it’s fair to place some of the responsibility on McVay. But McVay can only talk in Goff’s ear until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock. Once the ball is snapped, the Rams’ fifth-year franchise quarterback is on his own.

If Goff can’t get it together and soon, this Rams team is going nowhere fast.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Two incoherently bad decisions by the QB.
OL outmatched.
A head coach who blames his calls for confusing, inconsistent offense.
A Sisyphean defense.

Are we in a time loop? Am I Matthew McConaughey behind the bookcase?

==

Jared Goff’s decision-making stifles the Rams’ offense again in defeat: The Pile

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/2287161/2020/12/28/jared-goff-john-wolford-thumb/

Rams quarterback Jared Goff forced his right thumb back into place after dislocating it during Sunday’s loss to Seattle, but it’s the unforced errors that have been killing the Rams’ momentum all season.

Sunday’s 20-9 loss to Seattle was no different. Goff committed his 17th turnover of the season (out of the Rams’ season total of 23) with a baffling interception on first down at the Seattle 29-yard line in the second quarter. Late in the third quarter, he dislocated his thumb, then re-set it and finished the game.

Goff’s status is uncertain as he undergoes further testing. While NFL Network reported that his thumb is broken and will need surgery, and that Goff likely will miss next Sunday’s game against Arizona, sources told me that the Rams won’t rule out Goff until they see how he can grip and throw the ball, and how he can handle snaps under center over the next day or so.

The reason they are not quick to rule him out — both Goff and McVay publicly called Goff’s status “uncertain” — is because Goff was able to finish Sunday’s game, even with the injury, and said that it didn’t feel too bad.

If Goff can’t play, the Rams will start backup quarterback John Wolford, and likely will activate rookie quarterback Bryce Perkins off the practice squad as depth, because they need to have two quarterbacks active on game day. Goff has never missed a start due to an injury in his five-year NFL career.

But a couple of unforced errors by Goff — who, let’s be fair, started the game pretty decently — in the first half had fans on social media clamoring for Wolford anyway (as is usually the case when Goff performs badly). First came the interception, which Goff called “one of the worst plays” he has made in his career. Goff forced a throw while trying to lead receiver Robert Woods back toward the middle of the field, and it was picked easily by Quandre Diggs. Goff could have held the ball and gained as many as seven yards on the ground — and he had been doing so on similar plays earlier, when his receivers weren’t immediately open downfield. Somehow, that logic escaped his decision-making process and he forced that throw.

“I need to stop trying to make a play if it’s not there. I think that’s the result of the one today — just dumb,” Goff said. “Just really dumb. I’m a lot smarter than that. I’ve made a lot of better plays than that and I just need to not make something out of nothing sometimes and just take what they give (me).”

But we’ve heard that all too often, right? So I followed up by asking Goff: Where does he think those lapses in judgment come from?

“I think it’s just a natural response to try and make something happen,” he said. “I’m the quarterback of this team and I’m trying to score some points. Unfortunately, it has led to some dumb decisions, specifically today. Specifically just that one, honestly. It just can’t happen. Can’t do it.”

Goff nearly had a second throw, a downfield pass to tight end Tyler Higbee in coverage, picked off by safety Jamal Adams, but it was dropped.

Another baffling play came late in the second quarter. Goff, who doesn’t always baseball-slide as much as he “topples” on keeper plays, actually executed a perfect slide on a third-and-8 scramble, but he slid one yard too short of the conversion marker, so the Rams had to punt.

That was bad. But I’d say the turnovers — Goff has turned the ball over 38 times since the start of the 2019 season — are the worst hindrance to a Rams team that just cannot find stability. For as often as the defense has taken the ball away this year — tied for fifth in the NFL with 21 — they’ve turned it over more often and are at minus-2 in their differential. That’s awful.

I asked McVay — who doesn’t go blameless in all of this, but we’ll get to that in a second — whether Goff has been able to consistently set the offense up for success considering the turnovers, and he responded by deflecting the question.

“I wouldn’t make an overarching statement like that over that turnover. That was a costly one today,” McVay said. “It’s a collective effort and as a coach when you’re responsible for making a lot of the decisions, things like that, as a play-caller I have expectations of putting guys in spots (to succeed), and those are things that I don’t feel like I’ve consistently done enough for us.

“Jared and I, we’re in this together and that was a tough outing. There (were) enough things in terms of moving the ball that could have given ourselves a chance. Not finishing on the (third-quarter) goal-line stand and that turnover, those end up being costly for you, especially with the way that our defense played.”

Here’s the thing — and I’ll repeat this until getting hoarse: The Rams adjusted their offense this offseason toward higher-probability plays, meaning shorter air-yards plays, thus relying on catch-and-run receivers and tight ends to create “explosives” instead of doing so with low-probability deeper throws. They did so to help Goff, who struggles when pressured, and also because they knew their offensive line was not going to markedly improve its pass-blocking from last year and thus needed to work in shorter-developing plays with higher-explosive probability. This works. We’ve seen it work. We’ve seen the Rams rank in the top six in explosive plays this season. We’ve seen them score more than 30 points in a game. But the plan doesn’t work if the ball is getting turned over at a rate of 1.5 times per game.

What a mess. The Rams are 9-6. Welcome to The Pile — let’s start poking around.

Defense does its job

Rinse, repeat.

There isn’t much left to be said about this Rams defense, which, try as it may to put the offense in position to be successful, sees its efforts squandered in nearly all of the Rams’ losses (and even some wins).

It’s downright Sisyphean at this point. Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Sebastian Joseph-Day, John Johnson, Jordan Fuller, Michael Brockers, Leonard Floyd and company roll the boulder up the hill, only to watch helplessly as it tumbles back down.

Sunday, three of the Rams’ five sacks came on third down, and two came from Floyd, who also appeared to be superhuman in the effort to contain the run. Physical Seahawks back Chris Carson was held to 69 yards on 16 carries.

In the first half, the defense limited Russell Wilson and the Seahawks to just 3.5 yards per play and six first downs (and just six points, on two field goals). Overall, the Rams held Seattle to one touchdown and two field goals (one in a sudden-change situation), for a total of 13 points, until three minutes remained in the fourth quarter. And I wondered aloud, at that point: What kind of a crappy feeling must it be to know you’ve done your job as best you can, and yet 13 points (which ultimately became 20) is not enough to win? How deflating that must be.

“Losing is frustrating, but we do it as a team,” Ramsey said, refusing to point fingers postgame. Again, he and Joseph-Day lamented (as Rams defensive players did last week) that they were unable to record any takeaways or points after a previous streak of three games with a scoring play. (Cornerback Darious Williams was close on a first-half near-interception that may have gone for points.)

While I think it’s admirable to emphasize scoring as a defense, and especially with a group this talented, it’s really sad to me that these defensive players feel like they have to put it on their own shoulders, when it’s clearly not on them. Asking your defense to make up for the pitfalls of your offense week after week is like asking someone to run the 400-meter dash, but making them start the race knee-deep in sand while everybody else gets to start on solid ground.

Taking out defensive points, the Rams are averaging less than 20 points per game over their last five. And no, the defense was not perfect on Sunday — especially on the Seahawks’ final scoring drive, which went 80 yards and took 4.29 off the clock in the fourth quarter. But overall, they’re playing like a unit that deserves a shot at the postseason, and they’re doing it with little help from the offense.

McVay frustrated with his own calls

If we’re fairly evaluating Sunday’s loss, it wasn’t all on Goff. McVay also took the blame for some questionable play calls, which he says contributed to long third downs, failures in the red zone and an all-around inconsistent outing from the offense.

“Really, my job is to put these guys in better spots, and I don’t think I’ve consistently done a good enough job of that,” he said. “I have much higher expectations for myself. I haven’t been good enough. I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses. … I can be honest with myself, and I don’t feel like I’ve done a good enough job for (our) standards (and) expectations, and we’re all in it together. We’ve got to be able to produce, but I expect to put our guys in better spots. And for the last couple weeks, I have not done a good enough job of that.”

Editorially speaking, I think he’d particularly like to have the end of the Rams’ long third-quarter drive back. The Rams, trailing 13-6, had first-and-goal at the Seattle 2. McVay called three run plays for Malcolm Brown and a quarterback sneak. All failed, and the Rams turned the ball over on downs at the Seattle 1.

Cooper Kupp on third down

It’s time for Cooper Kupp to get his own section this week (honestly, he had earned it much earlier), and I’m not going to let other disasters on offense take away from a stellar performance by Kupp.

Kupp caught eight passes on nine targets for 66 yards against Seattle. Five — five — came on third-down plays that were converted, and a sixth was a conversion on second down. The Rams converted nine third downs all game. Kupp and Woods also sprang open the longest rushing plays of the night for the Rams, courtesy of tough downfield blocking.

Tough going on the ground

Even when they added extra blockers, the Rams struggled to get the ball moving on the ground. Rookie running back Cam Akers missed the game after suffering a high ankle sprain last week. Darrell Henderson started, but only averaged 3.5 yards per carry in the first half. His longest carry, a 23-yard outside run to the right side, came in the third quarter. On that same drive, Henderson was stopped just short of the end zone on a phenomenal play by Adams, who hauled it from across the field to push Henderson out of bounds and prevent a touchdown.

But Henderson also injured his ankle on the play and was unable to return to the game, leaving Brown as the Rams’ only back with any carries this season. Brown had just 27 yards on seven carries to finish the game.

I’m not certain Akers will be able to play next week with an injury as fickle as a high ankle sprain. Henderson, who has battled a few injuries this season, is also questionable. If the Rams want to keep running outside plays, they should try out Xavier Jones, who was active Sunday but did not get a carry. That’s not meant as a slight toward Brown, but he’s been more solid as a downhill and short-yardage runner, and the Rams have re-emphasized mixing it up in their rushing attack this season, instead of just running downhill.

Special teams Jekyll and Hyde

The Rams’ special teams unit is going to give me a stroke one of these days. And McVay might beat me to the hospital in that regard. Has there been a game in which all has gone smoothly on special teams? Sunday was more of the same.

Let’s start with the positive. Kicker Matt Gay appears to have been a great find (and remember, punter Johnny Hekker and long snapper Jake McQuaide found him). He was 3-for-3 on his field-goal attempts, including his first attempt at beyond 50 yards this season (a 51-yarder in the first half). Gay is additionally a good deal for the Rams because his contract tender will be cheap this offseason, compared to, say, an extension for former kicker Greg Zuerlein. With their $3 million or so in savings, the Rams can tender Darious Williams. Gay didn’t get a chance at point-after attempts because the Rams never scored a touchdown.

Then there’s the other side. The Rams started the game with a penalty on the kickoff. The Rams almost fumbled away a third-quarter punt return, because Nsimba Webster did not appear to have it secured upon contact. It seemed to be a lucky break that the fumble was ruled as a recovery for the Rams, because the replay showed a multitude of Seahawks players in the action. Webster got pulled in favor of Kupp for the next punt return. Remember, Kupp started the year as the punt returner. The Rams’ indecision there, and at kicker (Gay is their fourth rostered kicker of the year), plus continued inconsistencies in what feels like every game this season, don’t bode well for first-year coordinator John Bonamego.

Bottom of The Pile

The Rams aren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. If they beat Arizona next week, or the Bears lose to the Packers, they will be in. But can they make a run? I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This defense could win a title, but we have seen little proof that the offense can get it together for more than two consecutive games.

Did anybody else notice that Woods took an absolute beating this week? Whether it was getting sandwiched between two defenders on a failed outlet pass as Goff’s pocket collapsed, or laying out for a sideline pass that was simply too wide, or the usual crossers and “hospital balls” he navigates, it was hard to watch. Woods did an admirable job blocking downfield on a couple of plays during the Rams’ first drive of the third quarter, too.

It was interesting to watch the Seahawks scheme receiver DK Metcalf away from Ramsey on Sunday. They ran Metcalf in a few motions to get him as far away from Ramsey as possible, and in fact, Metcalf’s first target of the game with Ramsey legitimately in coverage resulted in a pass breakup. It would not be surprising to see more teams try that against Ramsey, who has played extremely well in man coverage situations all season.

The Rams had a 4-0 record after a loss this season … but broke that streak on Sunday.