Case Keenum makes key mistakes, prompts more Jared Goff questions
Alden Gonzalez
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LOS ANGELES — Resume the clamoring for Jared Goff in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Case Keenum didn’t necessarily play poorly — OK, he didn’t play dreadfully — but the Los Angeles Rams quarterback made a costly mistake late and missed on what could’ve been a big play early in a 30-19 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. That’s usually enough to prompt incessant questions about when Goff, the No. 1 overall pick, will be given a shot as the starting quarterback.
Keenum completed 21 of 31 passes, but two of his incompletions loomed large. One came early in the second quarter when facing third-and-1 from the Rams’ 30-yard line. Brian Quick had two steps on his defender down the field, but Keenum badly overthrew him on a deep ball. Had he hit him in stride, it could’ve gone for Quick’s fourth touchdown in three games.
“It hurt,” Keenum said. “It hurt a lot. But you’ve got to move on. Obviously, those are plays that you learn from. Seeing him make those plays, I’ve got to give him a chance. It was a tough one.”
Case Keenum missed on a couple of throws that cost the Rams. Jeff Gross/Getty Images
A much tougher incompletion came with four minutes left in the third quarter and the score tied at 16. Facing second-and-14 from the Rams’ 31-yard line, Keenum tried to hit rookie Pharoh Cooper, who was making his debut after missing the first four games with a shoulder injury, to the right side about 10 yards out. But Keenum’s throw didn’t have nearly enough zip. Bills corner Nickell Robey-Coleman, a USC alum, jumped the route, intercepted the pass and went untouched for what became the winning score.
“I can’t do that,” Keenum said. “I can’t do that, especially in this league. Across the board, there’s guys who will make that play. I can’t put my team in that situation, obviously. The game came down to one or two plays, and that was one play that I want back.”
Keenum threw another interception — also to Robey-Coleman — in the final minutes, but that was a desperation heave while backed up in his own territory and facing fourth-and-18. The game had practically been decided by then.
It was decided by a shorthanded defense that allowed 192 yards on the ground, and it was decided by an offense that marched into enemy territory on seven of its first nine possessions but managed only one touchdown, settled for four field goals and suffered through Todd Gurley’s first fumble. Gurley gained 108 yards from scrimmage, Tavon Austin made a season-high seven catches, and Kenny Britt gained 75 yards through the air, but the Rams’ offense did not do enough on a day when it needed to carry the load.
Those things usually fall on Keenum, who has a shorter leash — or perceived leash, at least — than anybody in the NFL.
“We just got to punch it in,” said Keenum, who entered with the NFL’s second-worst Total QBR. “We hurt ourselves in the red zone again.
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