the what went wrong against SF thread

[zn]

Week 12: 4 Observations on the L.A. Rams’ 23-20 loss to the 49ers

* http://ramstalk.net/week12ramsloss/

The Los Angeles Rams (7-4) suffered a heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers (5-6) at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, November 29. Rams quarterback Jared Goff completed 19 of 31 passes for 198 yards, two interceptions and a fumble lost in the defeat.

Here are four observations on the game:

TIME FOR JARED GOFF TO GROW UP

I’ve defended Goff for much of his career for good reason. The Rams put him in a poor position with former head coach Jeff Fisher as a rookie, and he’s played under multiple offensive coordinators and quarterback coaches. However, the Rams traded a bounty to select him as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft to be their franchise quarterback. They later paid him $134 million over four years ($110 million guaranteed) believing that he was ready to lead the franchise. What we saw today from Goff is far below any bar set for a fifth-year franchise quarterback. In truth, Goff’s performance put him nowhere near the value of what the Rams are paying for.

Goff will enter next week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals with the highest completion percentage of his career (67.25%). He’s already over 3,000 passing yards with an improved touchdown to interception ratio (16-10) over last season. Yet the inconsistent play that began in late 2018 has continued well into this season. Goff struggles under pressure and often fails to read opposing defenses. He possesses elite raw talent, but Goff’s decision-making often hurts his team at the worst times.

The Rams’ defense led the comeback against the 49ers, saving Goff from taking full responsibility for the team’s loss. Still, his mistakes buried the Rams for much of the game. There are no more excuses for Jared Goff. His offensive line didn’t perform well, and head coach Sean McVay certainly deserves to be questioned for his playcalling, but Goff is paid to lead this franchise on the field. It’s time he acted like it.

SEAN MCVAY’S FAILURE EVIDENT

I’ve said it time and time again on the Rams Talk Radio podcast: John Lynch built the 49ers to beat the Rams. However, that doesn’t mean the Rams cannot match up with them. The 49ers feature a strong pass rush and a fast front seven. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh continually gameplans well for the Rams by constantly pressuring Goff and shutting down the edge against the running game.

Sean McVay failed to adjust for his offensive line’s rough performance against the 49ers pass rush for much of the first 35 minutes of the game. Keeping Goff in the pocket against that pass rush proved costly time and time again. Couple that with his failure to establish the running game and McVay hamstrung his quarterback. The 49ers’ speed stymied the Rams running game on the outside, so the obvious answer would be to attack that speed by going in between the tackles. Unfortunately, McVay failed to do that until later in the game.

McVay remains one of the brightest young minds in the game. However, he won’t win a Super Bowl until he learns to get out of his own way. Right now, McVay tends to get impatient when things don’t go his way, especially with the running game. Sometimes it’s a matter of patience, especially when facing athletic defenses. McVay could go down in history as one of the greatest coaches in the NFL. I truly believe that. However, it’s not going to happen if he doesn’t get out of his own head more.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE IS A CONCERN

The Rams offensive line protected Goff well against Tampa Bay last week, but it struggled against the aggressive 49ers front seven. Add in the Rams’ issues running the ball in the last two weeks, and there is reason for concern. The unit simply isn’t getting enough push at the line with left tackle Andrew Whitworth out of the lineup. Los Angeles is at its best when it physically controls the game. The Rams aren’t doing that, and with the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray up next, a power running game is essential for their chances. It’s time for this entire unit to step up both in pass protection and in the running game. The Rams won’t make it far without the big men showing what they are made of up front.

THE BRIGHT SPOT

Fortunately, defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s unit kept the Rams in the game despite four turnovers from the offense. Defensive lineman Aaron Donald reaffirmed his place among the best in the league with a dominant performance in the second half, culminating in a forced fumble returned for a touchdown by defensive back Troy Hill. There will be those that are critical of the defense’s performance on the last drive of the game. Yet it seems idiotic to point the blame at a unit that pulled the Rams back from the brink. The tired defense proved unable to make one more stop, but a nine-minute time of possession difference points to the offense, which failed to carry its weight. If Goff and the offense can figure it out, the Rams have a chance at a deep playoff run.

[Hram]

I thought it was just Mr. Hydes week to come out and play last week

[zn]

They start out talking about the Rams/SF game

==

Greg Jennings on Aaron Rodgers & Matt LaFleur, Rams & Bucs inconsistency, Seahawks | NFL | THE HERD

[zn]

If you’re a team that’s going be looking for a HC next off-season. Saleh should be EASILY be in your top 3 interviews—-think this “kind” of play encapsulates “WHY”! 👇🏼 @49ers #NFLGamePass @HoustonTexans @Lions @AtlantaFalcons @nyjets pic.twitter.com/khGKGCNyzg

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) December 3, 2020

[zn]

Rams film room: Breaking down Jared Goff’s performance vs. 49ers

Cameron DaSilva

* https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-49ers-jared-goff-film-analysis-week-12/

Jared Goff has struggled with turnovers in his last four games. Since Week 8, he’s thrown six interceptions and lost four fumbles, which gives him 14 total turnovers on the year – second-most of any player.

Sunday’s game to the 49ers was especially bad as he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, in the Rams’ 23-20 loss to their divisional foes. As troubling as those giveaways are, they weren’t the only issues in Goff’s performance.

He wasn’t seeing the field well, he was missing throws he usually makes and didn’t navigate the pocket very well. The result was a 19-for-31 showing, totaling only 198 yards with no touchdowns.

We dove into the film and uncovered where things went wrong for Goff.

Not seeing open receivers

Every quarterback misses open receivers. They only have one set of eyes and have to go through their progressions before letting a pass go. It’s always easier to see open targets from above, but Goff is too often throwing to covered receivers instead of hitting open ones that come across the middle of the field.

For example, on this third-and-short play, Goff doesn’t see Josh Reynolds come open on the drag route underneath, which would’ve picked up a first down. Instead, he left the pocket and threw the ball away, forcing the Rams to punt.

Later in the game, on the Rams’ final possession of the afternoon, he didn’t see Robert Woods come wide open over the middle. It was a third-and-5 situation, so a completed pass to Woods certainly would’ve picked up the first. It could’ve gotten the Rams into field goal range, too, with about two minutes to play.

Goff wasn’t under pressure, so it’s not as if he had to hurry the throw. If he takes another second to survey the field and come off a covered Cooper Kupp downfield, he hits Woods easily for a first.

Bad interceptions

Throwing interceptions is one thing. Making terrible decisions that lead to interceptions is another. Goff made two of those on Sunday and the 49ers took advantage by picking both of those poor throws off.

The first a great play by Richard Sherman, who read Goff like a book. He used outside leverage, knowing he had safety help in the middle of the field. Keeping his eye on Goff, Sherman throttles down when he sees Goff winding up, turns completely around to find the ball and picks it off with Woods still streaking downfield.

It’s hard to tell if this was a horrible underthrow or a miscommunication with Woods, but either way, it was a bad throw.

Goff’s second interception was even worse and directly led to seven points for the 49ers. He was under pressure and tried to get rid of the ball while being hit by a defender, not seeing Javon Kinlaw dropping into coverage after initially rushing.

The ball might’ve been picked off by one of the two defenders covering Kupp had Kinlaw not been there, which makes the decision even worse. As Sean McVay put it, “you can’t just throw it away when you don’t see where you’re going.”

That’s exactly what Goff did and it was a pick-six.

Missing easy throws

Goff is typically an accurate quarterback. He usually puts the ball in the right spot, giving his receivers the chance to create after the catch. He struggled in that area against the 49ers, though, missing throws he’s expected to make.

On the Rams’ second drive of the game, he missed Kupp on a quick speed out on third-and-2. He’s lucky this one wasn’t a pick-six, too, as the defender was watching Kupp and not the ball. It was way behind Kupp and easily could’ve been picked off, resulting in an incompletion and a fourth down. The Rams settled for a 48-yard field goal, which was a disappointing result after a promising drive.

On his second-to-last throw of the game, Goff threw a pass too high for Woods along the sideline. It was a good route by Woods and should’ve been a layup for Goff, but the pass sailed and prevented Woods from making the catch.

A completion would’ve gone for a first down, but instead, the Rams punted two plays later and never got the ball back.

One of Goff’s worst misses of the day should’ve gone for a touchdown. Darrell Henderson ran a perfect wheel route and had at least a yard of separation, but Goff overthrew him and missed out on six points.

It was the right read even with a receiver open underneath, and it’s a throw $135 million quarterbacks should absolutely make. But Goff didn’t, and instead of the score being 17-10, the Rams trailed 17-6 after settling for a field goal.

Locking in on first read

Sherman must love playing against Goff because at least a few times a game, he reads the quarterback’s eyes and breaks on the ball to make a great play. Here, Goff never takes his eyes off Woods, his primary target, and takes the short throw underneath for a completion.

It wasn’t a bad decision, but he also wasn’t hurried and if he gets Sherman to bite on a fake, Gerald Everett is open down the sideline for a bigger gain. Sherman gambled and chose right, but Goff could’ve made him pay with a pump fake.

Deep miss

The deep ball has been a real trouble spot for Goff, both for a lack of attempts and completions. He simply hasn’t been able to connect with his receivers down the field, going 1-for-7 on passes at least 10 yards downfield Sunday.

This was one of his few deep shots in the game, targeting Reynolds on a go route. It’s a worthwhile shot, but Goff leads Reynolds too far inside and never really gives him a chance to make a play.

In fairness, Reynolds could’ve fought harder through the defender to draw a flag, but Goff threw this one to the wrong side of his receiver.

[joemad]

i’ll say it again…. playing on a short week from an east coast trip vs a team that is coming off a bye week makes a huge difference…..

5 days rest vs 14 days is a huge advantage.

[zn]

merlin

Some want to put everything on Goff. But he’s not the only issue on that field not by a long shot. He’s got JAGs around him who we know well and have built up high expectations for, as fans tend to do, who get free passes for the most part while the coach/scheme and the QB get all the flak.

Football’s a team game. We have a LOT of issues on offense and they extend far beyond McVay and Goff. IMO.

The truth is the matchup in the trenches favors the 9ers. And for the Rams what exacerbates that is their shallow threats at WR (they only have two guys to worry about) and a QB who has been struggling.

The Rams lack matchup problems in the pass game. Have any of you watched the coverages on 22? Guys were snuffed out all over the field. There were some plays where Goff missed open options, also the missed throws and poor decisions and those are on him. But all told that was only a small part of the overall problem the Rams have against that 9er defense. The greater problem is guys don’t get open when you only have two threats vs a good secondary.

Teams focus on Kupp and Woody. Reynolds should be feasting but all he’s doing is accruing snaps. Reynolds is a big dropoff from Cooks and it’s part of that equation re: why we’re seeing a low performing offense vs previous seasons. Jefferson would undoubtedly start over him if he knew what he was doing and blocked better but IMO those two things are keeping his snaps low.

Their moves to replace Gurley have not matured yet with any real consistency. Their move to replace Cooks hasn’t helped yet either. It’s players.

And going forward that’s not going to change. We’ll look better vs lesser defenses and fans will get all hyped up. This is the opportunity for Everett, Higbee, Henderson, Reynolds, Brown, etc to show they can step up and carry things but they’ve all shown they’re just guys. But the personnel problems are not gonna go away. We lack talent at wideout in the passing game and our run game needs better execution across the board.

But the defense has allowed this team to make a nice run of things so far in spite of all those skill position disappointments. And there is a chance Akers gets rolling and helps get this offense at least back to a nicely balanced unit. Re: the run game the pieces are there for the most part. It’s gonna be the storyline that saves us this season or dooms us.

By next year (well hopefully down this season’s stretch but certainly by next year) both Akers and Jefferson should be fully vested and on top of things and ready to impact the offense and that will help. But I wouldn’t rule out them going after another wideout in the draft if one who has the things they lack is there at round 2.

Not acting like I’m all knowing btw. I was wrong with plenty to include the OL. I thought Whit was on the downturn. I thought our OL didn’t have a Center but Blythe has played respectably. Kromer kicked my rear end good on my expectations and I love it btw. I was also feeling like Ramsey was a mistake, but that seems to have been a good move so far.

We get Whit back at some point so IMO what we’re looking at is a rebuild season where we might make the playoffs and actually have a chance to do something meaningful. So I’m not too disappointed tbh. This is a rebuild season no doubt about it IMO. And we’re in it. How cool is that.

[Author]

Posts