Goff will start Sunday vs Miami; Adam Schefter

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/no-1-pick-jared-goff-to-finally-start-for-the-rams-according-to-a-report/

Being 4-5 and coming off a 9-6 victory is as good a time as any to make a drastic change, so Jeff Fisher and the Rams are turning to rookie Jared Goff, according to a report from Chris Mortensen of ESPN.

Goff, taken No. 1 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, has yet to attempt a regular-season throw for the Rams. Case Keenum started the first nine games for Los Angeles.

The rookie will get to begin his career in front of the home crowd — probably a pretty reasonable part of the equation to starting Keenum last week in New York — against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

In terms of the timing for this start, things are a little weird. Many people believed Goff should have started out of the gates, and the play of Keenum pretty much justified that for several parts of the season.

Keenum’s game-ending interception in London against the Giants was horrific. Los Angeles has managed to score more than 20 points just twice this season.

Maybe Goff wasn’t ready to operate the offense, because of his transition from Sonny Dykes’ “Bear Raid” offense to whatever it is that the Rams run.

It’s hard to imagine that moving to a rookie quarterback, even one with 10 weeks of learning and nine weeks of clipboard holding, is going to magically transform the Rams offense. In other words, this doesn’t look like Los Angeles making some bold playoff push by going with the youngster.

The Rams were in limbo at 4-5, clearly not dangerous enough to really make a playoff run and clearly limited by their quarterback. Seeing what Goff can do and getting him live reps in games for the stretch run makes sense.

Pressure from outside was even more intense for Goff, because of the success of Carson Wentz with the Eagles (No. 2 overall) and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys (fourth-round) so far this season. Even the Browns have gotten an extended look at Cody Kessler in the regular season.

It’s hard to imagine Goff causes them to crater and miss the postseason. Maybe he’s better. If that’s the case, then suddenly he gets some momentum headed into his second year.

NERam wrote:

Well, yay.

Something had to give. I mean, whats the worst thing that could happen, the Rams dont score any touchdowns, and only manage a few field goals for 60 minutes??? God forbid we sink to a despairingly low level like that.

Well…he could throw 4 INT’s and have a couple of fumbles while holding on to it too long.

CK didn’t set the world on fire his last game but he did manage the game and kept away from the turnovers.

Hopefully he looks a lot different than he did in the pre-season.

Just another quick thought:

Fisher can’t win here. If Goff sucks, fans will be jumping off the top of the stadium. If he’s great, they will want Fisher’s head for waiting so long to start him.

Basically he has to fall somewhere into the mediocre department.

Eh…may be okay–shows some stuff, but yeah–probably was best to wait.

Fisher is probably giving him that very speech.

“Jared, go out there–look good–not TOO good. Just okay. Do that and we can get to 7-9 and look to next year.”

PA Ram wrote:

“Jared, go out there–look good–not TOO good. Just okay. Do that and we can get to 7-9 and look to next year.”

LOL.

sanbagger wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

Fisher can’t win here. If Goff sucks, fans will be jumping off the top of the stadium. If he’s great, they will want Fisher’s head for waiting so long to start him.

That’s a fact…it’s a lose-lose for Fisher.

I will say, it’s probably a good idea he is starting Goff because I think the fans in Cali would be brutal to CK from the first possession and they MTL will be a little more forgiving to Goff…for a while at least.

I have read this several places, and I don’t agree.

If Goff does well, people will be excited that Goff is doing well. There may be some criticism of Fisher for one news cycle, but people will soon forget the whole thing. And, if I’m Fisher, I will live pretty damn happily with that criticism anyway. So to hell with that.

Meanwhile, there will be voices countering those, arguing that it proves Fisher was right. Because Goff WASN’T ready. He wasn’t. If he is now, that only goes to prove Fisher did the right thing, doesn’t it? In the long run, everybody forgets it.

No, the only thing to fear is Goff sucking.

Fisher flips: Goff will start at QB for Rams https://t.co/Aw0Ea82f3N via @stltoday

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) November 15, 2016

Fisher flips: Goff will start at QB for Rams

By Jim Thomas St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2 hrs ago (0)

The wait is over for Jared Goff, and for Rams fans waiting to see the rookie quarterback in action. He will start this Sunday against Miami.

During his Monday media session, coach Jeff Fisher re-iterated that Goff was still the backup.

“He’s No. 2, and he’s a play away from playing,” Fisher told Rams reporters. “He’s ready, he’s preparing, and doing well.”

But Fisher apparently had a change of heart. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported late Tuesday morning that Goff would start Sunday’s home game against the Miami Dolphins and that the team’s quarterbacks were informed of the decision earlier Tuesday morning.

The Rams later confirmed that Goff would start against the Dolphins, replacing Case Keenum.

Keenum currently ranks 30th out of 33 NFL quarterbacks in passer rating, at 76.8. He has completed 191 of 313 passes (61.0 percent), for 2,169 yards with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Only Ryan Fitzpatrick of the New York Jets has thrown more interceptions, with 13.

The Rams rank 31st in total offense and are last in scoring offense, averaging 15.4 points per game. They have scored only 29 points over their last three games, although they did manage to beat the Jets 9-6 Sunday on three Greg Zuerlein field goals.

The Rams gave up six draft picks, including first_ and third-rounders in the 2017 draft, to move up to the No. 1 overall spot for Goff, who played in college at California-Berkeley.

Goff struggled in the preseason, completing only 44.9 percent of his passes (22 for 49), with two TDs and two interceptions for a 55.8 passer rating. He was a game-day inactive for the regular-season opener, with Sean Mannion dressing as the backup to Keenum.

Since then, Goff has been in uniform as the No. 2 quarterback, although he has yet to play in a game.

Rams bench Case Keenum for Jared Goff

Rams bench Case Keenum for Jared Goff
Posted by Michael David Smith on November 15, 2016, 12:48 PM EST
DETROIT, MI – OCTOBER 16: Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams warms up prior to the start of the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on October 16, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan.

The first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft is finally about to get on the field.

The Rams will start Jared Goff on Sunday against the Dolphins, Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports.

That reverses what coach Jeff Fisher said two days ago, when he insisted that Case Keenum would remain the team’s starting quarterback. Apparently Fisher has decided something has to change with his team’s terrible offense.

In their first year in Los Angeles, the Rams have struggled on offense all season, with Keenum simply not able to produce big plays. The fact that Goff has stayed on the bench despite Keenum’s poor play has led many to believe that he must look so bad in practice that Fisher can’t justify putting him on the field. But now we’ll all get to see how he looks on Sunday.

Zooey wrote:

Nobody says he can’t spark the offense.

But even Dr. Frankenstein needed a bolt of lightning to bring life to his offense.

Friggin’ Chargers fans.

You can’t help but use electricity metaphors, can ya? Gives you away every time.

Now’s the time to start Goff if you think there’s a chance he could turn things around because they are only a game out of the last wildcard spot.

I don’t for a second think the Rams are legitimate playoff contenders and Jeff Fisher probably doesn’t either. They certainly aren’t with Keenum at QB. But Gurley showed some life against the Jets so if you want to find out if there is a playoff run in this team now’s the time to make the switch.

sanbagger wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I have read this several places, and I don’t agree.

Well…I don’t agree with the concept either…but to disagree that it’s gonna happen is just a little naive.

I read too many threads daily that no matter what they do it’s wrong…so, I already see the blood in the water.

Doesn’t bother me one bit because I firmly believe Goff wasn’t ready to start the season and even if he has a bit of a rough go of it, it won’t convince me he’s a bust…hell I don’t think GRob;s a bust even if he doesn’t work out at LT and I haven’t written that off yet.

I am not saying it won’t happen (i.e. if Goff does well, people will complain that Fisher didn’t start him earlier). I am only saying that criticism will soon be dropped because people will get excited by the Rams winning, and will soon forget to blame the coach for the fact they had to wait.

Zooey wrote:

sanbagger wrote:

Zooey wrote:

I have read this several places, and I don’t agree.

Well…I don’t agree with the concept either…but to disagree that it’s gonna happen is just a little naive.

I read too many threads daily that no matter what they do it’s wrong…so, I already see the blood in the water.

Doesn’t bother me one bit because I firmly believe Goff wasn’t ready to start the season and even if he has a bit of a rough go of it, it won’t convince me he’s a bust…hell I don’t think GRob;s a bust even if he doesn’t work out at LT and I haven’t written that off yet.

I am not saying it won’t happen (i.e. if Goff does well, people will complain that Fisher didn’t start him earlier). I am only saying that criticism will soon be dropped because people will get excited by the Rams winning, and will soon forget to blame the coach for the fact they had to wait.

OK…looks like we’re gonna find out. Doesn’t matter to me anyway cause I’m more interested to see if he can help the team.

I’ve been thinking the main reason for holding him back was time to get rid of the ball. For all of CK’s shortcomings getting rid of the ball quickly wasn’t one of them.

The O-line is credited this year for all of a sudden being able to pass block but not run block…a complete 180 from last year….I tend to believe that was all CK and the O-line pass blocking is, to quote the Talking Heads, the same as it always was.

That’s what I’ll be watching for and expect a couple of shots downfield but mostly short stuff, quick reads and throwaways galore. Just keep the turnovers to minimum Jared.

Zooey wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

You can’t help but use electricity metaphors, can ya? Gives you away every time.

Now’s the time to start Goff if you think there’s a chance he could turn things around because they are only a game out of the last wildcard spot.

I don’t for a second think the Rams are legitimate playoff contenders and Jeff Fisher probably doesn’t either. They certainly aren’t with Keenum at QB. But Gurley showed some life against the Jets so if you want to find out if there is a playoff run in this team now’s the time to make the switch.

The Rams defense is good. The Rams are 2-1 when they have scored fewer than 10 points. The rest of the league is 0-14-2 when scoring less than 10.

If the Rams can increase their scoring by 5 points a game, they can make the playoffs.

And lose.

But they could make it.

So…what will they draft? OL? WR? Long snapper?

A pass rushing DE, unfortunately. Quinn and Donald are the only good pass rushers on the d-line and who knows what Quinn’s future is?

i’m so happy.

…

now i’m nervous.

PA Ram wrote:

isher can’t win here. If Goff sucks, fans will be jumping off the top of the stadium. If he’s great, they will want Fisher’s head for waiting so long to start him.

I’m a fan. I ain’t doin none of those things. I think they started him when they intended to, and I don’t have any conspiracy theories about it.

On how he does? I will wait n see n call em as I see em.

There are a lot of theories out there, but the one that makes the most sense to me is the one Fisher has been saying publicly, more or less. He wanted Goff to be ready. He wasn’t ready.

And, sure, he told everyone Sunday and Monday there was no change, but any coach worth a nickle would say that. He wanted to talk to Keenum privately first, and Goff. Only an asshole would say to the media that he was switching QBs before he talked to the QBs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought Goff was ready before NY, and decided it was better to start him at home, and just waited for this moment. This idea that Stan or the fans or Les “got” to him, or he panicked and reversed course, or whatever, just is ridiculous. I think. This guy has coached for over two decades, and played in the spotlight since he was a kid. He knows the difference between the locker room and the media. I just do not buy any of these conspiracy theories at all.

Fisher is starting Goff next week for one reason: he thinks Goff is ready to start.

The rest of the chatter is manure.

IMO.