so who or what is Goff in 2020

Jared Goff’s two weeks in Florida show that his best can come from his worst

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/2222831/2020/11/26/jared-goff-rams-blitz-dolphins/?source=twittered

Rams general manager Les Snead floats an expression from time to time, which he says is borrowed from Arizona State football coach Herm Edwards: “You don’t lose. You just learn.”

In examining Jared Goff’s two weeks in Florida this month, and the time in between, that expression has been demonstrated.

A Nov. 1 walloping in Miami sparked understandable concern about Goff and the Rams offense’s ability when pressured, especially against the Cover-0 blitz that Dolphins coach Brian Flores sent more times than the Rams had ever seen. Goff turned the ball over four times in extra-pressure situations, and the offense never recovered in a 28-17 loss.

His play-success rate against the blitz plummeted to 43 percent. His completion percentage against the blitz wallowed at 46.4 percent — and then, of course, there were the two interceptions and two sack-fumbles.

That concern rippled through the Rams’ ecosystem, because with upcoming divisional games, and a few pressure-happy, formidable defensive fronts looming, they knew teams would try to use Miami’s pressure scheme against them as frequently as possible. Head coach Sean McVay, Goff and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell ran a thorough self-scout during the bye week after the Miami loss.

On the following Wednesday, the team’s first practice of Week 10, pressure drills were more noticeable than ever. Assistant coaches waved long, thin pencil-pads in the throwing lanes of the quarterbacks during short-pass reps, and even hit the players with pads to hassle them in the manufactured pocket.

And in the two games since, Goff’s play-success rate against the blitz climbed to 52.4 percent (in a win vs. Seattle), and then to 80 percent in a win over Tampa Bay on Monday. His completion percentage against the blitz also improved, to 68.4 percent and 90 percent, respectively (all stats courtesy of Sportradar).

“The Miami game gave us some perspective on what we need to get better at, what I need to get better at,” Goff said Wednesday. “I was able to have that bye week to really reflect on (myself), and how I want to get better. And I think, likewise for the team, we figured out how we want to attack it differently.

“Since then, we’ve done a good job with it. It has been a point of emphasis. … It’s been great. We still have a lot of room for improvement, and I think there are still opportunities for us when they do want to bring the zero-blitz, is what we’ve been getting a lot of — but any blitz in general.”

Seattle blitzed Goff on 21 of his 37 pass attempts, though they weren’t always all-out. Still, safety Jamal Adams got sent in from the defensive backfield nine times.

The Bucs’ 41.9 blitz rate is tied for the second-highest in the NFL. Just below them at 41.6 percent? The Miami Dolphins.

The Rams figured Tampa Bay would do the smart and statistically sound thing and test them with several cover-0 pressures, the same type of blitzes that gave Goff such a hassle against Miami.

“Some of those all-out pressures that we talked about, Jared did a great job of handling it, as did the other 10 around him,” McVay said. “When they do that, there’s no safety in the middle of the field, everyone is isolated in their coverage (one-on-ones between receivers and defensive backs), and they’re bringing more than you can protect.”

Jared Goff threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns vs. Tampa Bay. (Kim Klement / USA Today)
That also means, of course, that there is an extra pass-rusher coming for Goff — one or more players than the offense has in pass protection — to go for the big sack. Obviously with nobody deep, the ideal play to counter is for Goff to get the ball out quickly to one of his catch-and-run players (such as Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp or Tyler Higbee), and watch them streak downfield into the open space after the short catch.

Those blitz-kill plays force a defense to reduce that specific type of pressure. Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was blitzing Goff on schedule, on about 40 percent of pass plays, but actually pulled back in the second half to 30 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.

Why? Because Goff went 10-for-10 for 146 yards and a touchdown in the first half when operating against a blitz.

Not all of those, of course, were all-out blitzes. But Goff did pretty well against those, too.

“They did a handful of those. … That’s kind of been a staple of a Todd Bowles-led defense,” McVay said.

Two in particular stuck out in his mind, and each led to a field goal. In both situations, Goff showed a small slice, perhaps, of why he didn’t let his atrocious performance against Miami totally tank his estimation of what he could do against future blitzes. He didn’t get frazzled.

Goff connected on a 35-yard catch-and-run pass to receiver Woods against an all-out blitz with 19 seconds in the first half. Then Goff and the rest of the offense (including the 300-pound linemen) sprinted to the line of scrimmage as the seconds ticked away. With one second remaining in the second quarter, the line got set and Goff called for the snap, then the spike. The timing allowed kicker Matt Gay a chance at a 38-yard field goal, and the Rams went into the locker room at halftime with a 17-14 lead, knowing that the McVay-coached Rams were 31-0 when leading at the half.

Then, with the game tied 24-24 in the fourth quarter, Goff and the offense got the ball back with 3:53 to play. Woods said he felt the near-frantic energy of the situation from the coaches on the sideline, but once the players got in the huddle, Goff calmed everybody down by telling them, “OK, it’s just a Thursday practice,” a reference to the period in which the Rams work through end-of-game scenarios each week.

Goff hit Woods on a crosser to get near midfield on the first play out of the huddle. Later, an all-out blitz came on a third-down play, and this time Goff hit Kupp for 19 yards. That completion set up what ended up being the game-winning field goal.

“Calm, cool, collected, another day at the office,” center Austin Blythe said. “Jared is just the epitome of that … seriously. Command, getting the ball out, guys getting downfield, getting the ball back to the hash and doing it all over again.”

And thus Goff’s “Florida Man” saga came to an end.

Goff ranks third in the NFL in play-success rate when he’s getting blitzed (56.4 percent), and he certainly was boosted by his performances against Seattle and Miami. Continuing to perform at close to that number for the rest of the season will be a tell as to whether he has truly taken a step forward in his NFL saga, because there is no question that opponents will keep the pressure coming, with hope that he’ll crack.

“It says that he’s doing a great job with his preparation,” McVay said, firmly. “There was never a question of whether he was capable of handling it that way or not. … He and Kevin have done a great job getting prepared, having ownership of the plan, and then ultimately, when those situations and scenarios present themselves, let’s go make a play, let’s execute, let’s have great communication among your teammates…

“And that’s exactly what he’s done, really, in each of the last two weeks in those specific moments. I think it has been imperative for us to be efficient offensively, and I’m very pleased with that. Now we have to see it continue.”