Rams’ Jared Goff continues to regress, with only himself to blame

Molly Knight

https://theathletic.com/2287538/2020/12/27/jared-goff-turnovers-rams-seahawks/?source=twittered

When the Rams clobbered the Patriots this month they looked like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. But after two dreadful games from quarterback Jared Goff, they might not even make the playoffs.

It’s one thing to lose to the winless Jets at home, as the Rams did last week. Losing late in the season to the Seahawks on the road, as the Rams did on Sunday, normally would not be embarrassing. But the pandemic kept the famously loud 12th man out of the stadium in Seattle. Goff has no one to blame for his mistakes but the growing noise in his head.

The Rams’ defense was tremendous again. It held one of the better teams in the NFL to just 292 yards of offense and did not give up a touchdown until the third quarter. The Rams’ offense was stuck in neutral yet again and failed to score a touchdown. The Rams lost 20-9 and watched Seattle clinch the NFC West title that they looked like a lock to win three weeks ago. If the Rams lose next week to Arizona — and red-hot Chicago beats Green Bay — they will miss the playoffs altogether.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After Goff threw 16 interceptions last year compared to just 22 touchdowns, coach Sean McVay spent the offseason adjusting the offense so that Goff would not turn the ball over. But shortening the amount of air yards Goff attempts has made all the interceptions he’s thrown that much more inexplicable. He has thrown 13 picks through 15 games this year, and the worst one came on Sunday.

“One of the worst plays I think I’ve made in my career,” Goff said after the game.

With the Rams driving and reaching the Seahawks’ 29-yard line toward the end of the first half, Goff took a first-down snap and rolled out to his right. His intended receiver, Robert Woods, was covered at the 20, but Goff could have scrambled out of bounds for an easy five or six yards. Instead, he chose to lob the ball toward the 10-yard line, where it was easily picked off by free safety Quandre Diggs. There was no Rams receiver within seven yards of where the ball landed, in Diggs’ hands.

Goff finished 24 of 43 with 234 yards and a QB rating of 61.6. Meanwhile, back at SoFi Stadium, Justin Herbert set the NFL’s all-time rookie record for touchdowns in a season with 28 to lead the lowly Chargers to their third straight victory. These two things might not seem related, but how much better would Rams fans feel right now if their team was entering the playoffs with the rookie Herbert instead of the veteran Goff?

When the Rams signed Goff to a $134 million contract extension a year ago, including a then-record $110 million guaranteed, they certainly didn’t expect he would do nothing but regress. McVay has already watered down the offense to try to protect Goff from himself. And now that running backs Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson are dealing with injuries, it’s unclear who the Rams can rely on to get the ball into the end zone if Goff keeps turning it over.

If Goff weren’t owed so much money, the Rams would probably be considering a quarterback change right now. Terry Bradshaw even suggested they trade for Lions QB Matthew Stafford on the Fox broadcast earlier in December. But the money Goff is owed makes that next to impossible, at least until after the 2022 season.

At this point, the Rams’ best hope may be to select a quarterback in the later rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft and hope that this pandemic led to a scouting meltdown that caused a future star signal-caller to be overlooked.

What is there to say about Goff and the Rams at this point that hasn’t been said? His entire career has hinged on the promise of future greatness. He set the Pac-12 single-season passing record as a junior at Cal, but in his three years at Berkeley, his teams went 0-12 against USC, UCLA, Oregon and Stanford.

When the Rams drafted Goff No. 1 overall in 2016, it was under the assumption that if he was ever surrounded by superlative talent, he could dominate the NFL. It’s tough to imagine Goff with a better supporting cast, save for a running back who could do what Todd Gurley did when the Rams made the Super Bowl two years ago, but this Rams defense is playing at a championship level. Not only is Aaron Donald demonstrating why he’s one of the best defensive linemen to ever play the game, but younger players like nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and free safety John Johnson also seem to be improving every week. The secondary, led by Jalen Ramsey, is among the best in the league.

Perhaps the most maddening part of Goff’s struggles is that he has the perfect receiving corps for what the Rams are trying to have him do. Woods and Cooper Kupp can both catch and hold on to every single 7-yard pass thrown at them, and they’re both excellent blockers in the run game. If the Rams could just hold on to the football, their defense would be good enough to carry the team to a Super Bowl title. But, obviously, if Goff could hold on to the football with any reliability, he would do it. And now he’s dealing with a thumb injury, the severity of which we don’t know yet.

I don’t pretend to know what it’s like to try to complete a pass while running away from 300-pound athletic freaks of nature who are paid to separate me from the ball in my hands. But I also wasn’t drafted No. 1 overall and given hundreds of millions of dollars to figure it out.

With the way Goff is playing right now, the Rams might not beat the Cardinals next Sunday. Arizona is much better than the Jets. And if the Bears do beat the Packers to knock the Rams out of the playoffs, Rams fans will feel like they’ve been dropkicked into the Jeff Fisher era all over again.

How on earth did we get here? After inexcusable clock management leading to losses, the Chargers were supposed to be the L.A. football team that finished the season as a punchline. But the Rams still control their fate. All they have to do is beat the Cardinals, and they’re back in the playoffs.

After Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, McVay deflected blame from Goff onto himself for not calling better plays. And to the extent that Goff’s quarterback play is an extension of what McVay tells him to do on the field, it’s fair to place some of the responsibility on McVay. But McVay can only talk in Goff’s ear until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock. Once the ball is snapped, the Rams’ fifth-year franchise quarterback is on his own.

If Goff can’t get it together and soon, this Rams team is going nowhere fast.

Geoff Schwartz@geoffschwartz
There’s 14 playoff spots and heading into the final weekend, only a single spot is spoken for. The Chiefs won the AFC. 7 teams have clinched. NFL does playoff drama better than any league. I love it.

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Jared Goff, on unforced errors: “I just need to stop making a play if it’s not there. That’s what the result of the (interception) was today, just dumb. Just really dumb. I’m a lot smarter than that, I’ve made a lot better plays than that. I just need to try not to make something

out of nothing sometimes, and take what they give me.” In followup, I asked where he thinks lapse in judgement comes from. “It’s just a natural response to trying to make something happen. I’m the QB of this team and I’m trying to score some points. Unfortunately, it has

led to some dumb decisions. Specifically today, specifically just that (interception), honestly. It just can’t happen. Can’t do it.”

While Goff did dislocate his right thumb, and put it back in place to finish the game, it’s going to be a situation where the Rams see – even if further testing confirms a break – if he can manage it enough to play as was the case today. He called his status “uncertain”.

They need to first see, after further testing, if he can grip and throw – regardless of whether testing shows a dislocation or a break.

Dan Orlovsky@danorlovsky7
Awesome comeback by the @steelers

The difference was their OL. Ben wasn’t touched in the 2nd half. Literally.

from NFL Week 16 PFF ReFocused: Seattle Seahawks 20, Los Angeles Rams 9

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-week-16-pff-refocused-seattle-seahawks-20-los-angeles-rams-9

What could have been perhaps dismissed as just a bad day at the office a week ago now has the look of something more systemic for the Los Angeles Rams‘ offense. They failed to fire once again and ceded their chance to take the NFC West with a 20-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16.

STORY OF THE GAME

The Rams’ defense largely held up its end of the bargain, frustrating Russell Wilson for the second time this season and holding the Seahawks to just 20 points. But it turned out that was more than double what they would need to secure the win given Los Angeles’ problems on offense.

Jared Goff had another ugly performance, making multiple turnover-worthy plays — including an interception — and producing an inefficient passing game for the second week running. The Rams’ passing game actually averaged negative expected points added per play, effectively digging themselves an ever-deeper hole the more they threw the ball.

A week ago, the story was that the Rams’ interior offensive line was destroyed by the Jets, and when that platform for the offense is eroded, they simply can’t fire. While Austin Blythe didn’t have a great game at guard, that doesn’t explain the disaster this time around.

You don’t exactly emerge from this game with a huge degree of confidence that either team has what it takes to run the table in the NFC and take it to the best teams in the league, but the Seahawks will at least host a playoff game having secured the division with this win.

The Rams still have to secure a wild-card spot, but they will also be spending some pretty significant time trying to identify what’s gone wrong with this offense in recent weeks and whether it can be put back together by the time the playoffs start.

If things go as expected, this will also likely prove to be a repeat matchup in the first week of the postseason, giving the Rams a quick chance at redemption.

ROOKIE WATCH
Wideout Van Jefferson played 14 snaps on offense for the Rams, dropping the only target thrown his way to somewhat typify the entire offense’s day. On defense, Jordan Fuller remains a starter at safety, seeing 61 snaps of action and making six tackles. None of those six tackles were defensive stops, and he was beaten for a touchdown in coverage.

Terrell Lewis played 15 snaps on the edge but was largely absent of any kind of impact.

NFL: "Russell Wilson is not in a rhythm at Quarterback."

⬇️ @caplannfl points out some flaws facing both teams before giving us his prediction for the Rams/Seahawks matchup.#LARvsSEA #NFL #RamsHouse #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/MTBvRSjQz3

— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) December 27, 2020

Tom Pelissero@TomPelissero
#Seahawks DT Damon “Snacks” Harrison asked for his release after learning he’d be inactive today against the #Rams, and the team plans to grant it next week, per sources. Seattle loves Snacks and hopes he has a change of heart, but seems his mind is made up. He’d go on waivers.

Doug Farrar@NFL_DougFarrar
Went back and watched DK Metcalf’s targets against the Rams in Week 10, and if Russ had been a bit more on point with this throws… different story. Metcalf had Ramsey beat on a deep backside boundary throw, but overthrown. Low ball on an intermediate crosser. We’ll see…

Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
I don’t feel overly confident, but I like the Rams to win today. Seahawks haven’t impressed me lately and the Rams are excellent at avoiding back-to-back losses.

==

ProFootballReference@pfref
Fewest yards per play allowed:
1. Rams – 4.6
2. Steelers – 4.8
t3. Football Team – 5.0
t3. Saints – 5.0

Most:
1. Jaguars – 6.3
2. Lions – 6.2
t3. Falcons – 6.1
t3. Texans – 6.1

Rex Chapman@RexChapman
The president is playing golf while unemployment benefits lapse, people suffer, and people die. If you’re cheering this on, maybe ask yourself how you’d feel about it if a Black president was doing this sh*t. Then get some help.

Rams, Jared Goff try to rebound and leap into playoffs https://t.co/YmcIIL8etQ

— RamsNewsNow (@RamsNewsNow) December 27, 2020

I have the SF/Arz game on Amazon Prime. Don’t know how much of it I will watch.

Tom Brady completed 22-of-27 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns against the Lions.

In the first half.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 26, 2020

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Sean McVay says that – other than Cam Akers, who was previously ruled out with a high ankle sprain – everybody on the active roster is good to go for Sunday. That means Terrell Lewis, too! McVay confirmed Lewis will be active against Seattle.

PFF LA Rams@PFF_Rams
Jared Goff has thrown for 300 yards six times this season (most among NFC QBs; 5th-most among all QBs)

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Brad Holmes, the Rams director of college scouting, is expected to interview for the Lions’ general manager opening, sources tell ESPN. Holmes also is a candidate for the job with the Atlanta Falcons. He’s spent 18 years climbing the ranks with the Rams. https://espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/42400/brad-holmes-rams-director-of-college-scouting-will-interview-for-general-manager-positions