what happened in the superbowl & how the Rams R adjusting

Albert Breer,from: https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/06/24/jameis-winston-marcus-mariota-2019-season-contract-year

A few weeks back, in this space, Jared Goff explained to us how the Rams were working on becoming more adaptable offensively—and a staffer there gave me a pretty good example of how that’s worked a little while back. Because the Rams spend their spring trying to master their own offense, they aren’t pushing up against what their defense might call. So the offensive calls going in this spring routinely put Goff and the offense in a spot where they have to react post-snap. If the call in is ideal against zone rather than the man defense Goff is seeing? Or if one built to beat a two-high safety look meets a single-high safety after the snap? That’s where Goff and the offense have to adapt. And as I’ve heard, Goff’s done a better job this spring in more quickly getting to his second read, then to his third read or checkdown. Which is how you improve against defenses that show you something different from what you saw on tape, which is what the Rams were up against in the Super Bowl.

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Goff has been working on reacting post-snap this offseason

Jared Goff has been working on reacting post-snap this offseason

Jared Goff has made incredible strides the past couple of seasons. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback has gone from looking lost as a rookie, to making the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons. His transformation even culminated in a Super Bowl run as a 24-year-old last season.

But Goff would be the first to tell you that his development isn’t complete, and he still has a lot of things to work on. The Goff-Sean McVay partnership has worked wonders so far, but the duo isn’t letting the success go to their heads. Goff indicated earlier this offseason that he was working on getting through his progressions a little quicker during OTAs, and now we have more confirmation that’s been an area of focus.

In his recent MMQB column for Sports Illustrated, Albert Breer broke down what exactly Goff has been working on during OTAs and minicamp. Breer writes that “the Rams spend their spring trying to master their own offense,” and that “the offensive calls going in this spring routinely put Goff and the offense in a spot where they have to react post-snap.”

This means Goff is focusing on improving at adapting to what the defense calls, and going through his progressions rapidly with little time to react to what he’s seeing.

It seems to be paying off so far, as Breer has been told that “Goff’s done a better job this spring in more quickly getting to his second read, then to his third read or checkdown.” Ever since Goff started to break out, his success has been diminished by detractors who credit McVay for most of the Rams’ success.

The criticism has never been very fair, but it’s also true that Goff’s game isn’t perfect. He struggled at times under pressure last year, like during the Bears and Eagles games, and wasn’t always prepared when things broke down. Clearly he’s making it a point of emphasis this offseason, and it sounds like it’s working. Breer writes that the Rams are calling plays in practice that purposefully won’t line up well with what the defense is showing, forcing Goff to react after the snap and get out of his comfort zone on his first read.

Although Goff more or less did all he could to extinguish the ‘system quarterback’ label once and for all last season, doubts have persisted. If Goff can get even better at playing off-script and adjusting on the fly, he should put all those doubts to rest permanently in 2019.