Goff is on the move & the offense is benefitting from it

Jared Goff is on the move, and the Rams’ offense is benefitting from it

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/1321475/2019/10/24/jared-goff-is-on-the-move-and-the-rams-offense-is-benefitting-from-it/

As Jared Goff sized things up just before the snap on a first-quarter, third-and-8 play against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, his intent was to throw to his right, where Gerald Everett, the Rams’ emerging tight end, was lined up in the slot against safety Damontae Kazee. It was the perfect matchup, with the 6-foot-4 Everett having a decided physical advantage over the 5-11 Kazee.

What ensued is further proof that even the best-intended plans often can quickly go awry in the fast-moving world of the NFL. And also how important Goff’s feet and athletic ability are becoming, and how much more the Rams are tapping into that part of his skill set.

Sometimes by design, as we will explain later, but at times out of pure survival instinct.

Goff will never be confused with superior athletes like Carson Wentz or Patrick Mahomes, quarterbacks who use their legs to manipulate pass pockets and extend plays or run for big chunks of yards.

But Goff moves better than people might imagine, and going back to his college career at Cal, where he often operated in hostile pockets under tremendous pressure, he has showed an uncanny ability to subtly dance out of harm’s way while keeping his eyes downfield to find open receivers.

“I do like it,” Goff said. “It gets usually some easy completions and gets the ball on the edge to our skill players. It is a big part of our offense and it worked for us on Sunday.”

And it’s something he’s had to rely on more and more this year, as a Rams offensive line dealing with the disruption of replacing two starters and injuries simply hasn’t provided Goff the same level of protection it did the last two seasons. Coupled with the new defensive wrinkles the Rams have faced this year, and a run game that hasn’t provided a consistently reliable balance, Goff’s world has been decidedly different this season.

And that’s resulted in some adjustments in how he’s being used — with Sunday’s win against the Falcons serving as a prime example. Goff, who even ran for a touchdown in the third quarter on a designed play, was on the move as much as we’ve seen him this year.

“I think you always want to try and move the spot,” coach Sean McVay said. “It takes pressure off knowing, ‘All right, there’s going to be a consistent launch point,’ it marries with a lot of the things that we try to do in the run game. That’s always been something that we want to do.”

On the first-quarter play against the Falcons, Goff was lined up in the shotgun and out of the corner of his eye he saw the Everett-Kazee mismatch. It was a look Goff repeatedly went to against the Falcons, given the physical advantage Everett had on the safeties and linebackers assigned to defend him.

But at the snap of the ball, Falcons defensive end Takkarist McKinley, with a running start, pushed Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein two yards into the backfield. It was just enough to compromise the timing and rhythm of a throw to Everett, but with his eyes remaining downfield, Goff took two tip-toe steps to his right to avoid the mess and allow Havenstein to bury McKinley into the ground. Goff then turned his attention to his left while simultaneously taking a step forward.

The two-step to his right and the step forward bought Goff the extra time to find Cooper Kupp, who had started the play lined up to the left, shading Brandin Cooks in the slot, then worked an up-and-in pattern to find open space in the Falcons’ zone coverage. Goff delivered a strike to Kupp to pick up 17 yards and a key first down. The Rams ended up kicking a field goal on the drive.

The key was Goff feeling the pressure and using his feet to offset it while continually keeping his eyes downfield.

“I thought you saw — especially on that first drive with the one that he ended up working the back side in-cut to Cooper — good movement in the pocket,” McVay said. “They went to a three-man rush, Rob did a great job of pancaking his guy and Jared felt where the rush was, moved around and really worked all the way through a progression.”

While that play was more the result of instinct, the Rams also have designed plays for Goff to get roll out of the pocket to his right and left and buy more time and create bigger throwing windows and easier completions.

That was the case in the second quarter with the Rams facing a second-and-7 play from their own 26-yard line.

Goff worked from under center this time, and at the line of scrimmage recognized the Falcons were in man coverage on Cooks, with a safety shaded to his left. At the snap, Cooks took a hard step to his right, and immediately got the advantage on Falcons cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson. Simultaneously, Goff faked a pitch to running back Darrell Hendesron while tight end Tyler Higbee blocked down on linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to simulate a run play. That forced Falcons safety Jamal Carter to commit to the pitch action and vacate his pass defense position, leaving Cooks to drag Wreh-Wilson across the field in a one-on-one situation

After faking the pitch, Goff rolled hard to his right to buy more than enough time for Cooks to work his way across the field while also opening a wide throwing window. The result was an easy 21-yard completion.

“That’s always been something that we want to do.” McVay said. “We were able to be able to get some of those plays off because we had some efficiency on some early downs and we were able to convert on third downs and stay on the grass, which I thought was really important for us to do that. Jared’s athleticism is something we want to take advantage of, but that’s kind of our core philosophy in terms of how we want to operate.”

While Goff is obviously comfortable throwing from the pocket, by rolling out of the pocket and maintaining vision downfield he can buy more time without sacrificing throwing windows.

“I think the only difference is that the whole defense is moving with you, so the windows come open at different times,” Goff said. “It’s very similar to when you’re in the pocket, kind of maneuvering defenders down the field.”

And as the Rams’ offense continues to evolve, it seems like putting Goff on the move is becoming more and more prevalent.

“Those are the kind of things that I think are going to be important for us to continue to do if we’re going to be efficient like we expect to be offensively,” McVay said.