Rams Goff delivered in regular season, postseason a different story

Los Angeles Rams starting quarterback Jared Goff will be on the sideline when they face NFC West rival San Francisco in a Week 17 regular season finale.

When the Los Angeles Rams drafted Jared Goff with the top overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, fans hoped he’d develop into a franchise type quarterback, help them forget the disappointment of Sam Bradford, and restore some pride and championship swag from the St. Louis edition.

Under former head coach Jeff Fisher and OC Rob Boras, not so much.

With head coach Sean McVay, Goff looks to have a much higher ceiling.

The second year quarterback will be on the sideline for the Week 17 finale against NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers, as McVay looks to get his starters some rest before part two commences when the playoffs begin next weekend.

It’s impossible to say many if any saw this coming after Goff went 0-7 to begin his NFL career. In fact, the word “bust” was casually used to describe what the Rams and McVay might have on their hands when 2017 rolled around.

As a matter of fact, I even wrote that this season was likely an audition for Goff to see if he’d be a long term player in Los Angeles, as rumors swirled of a potential reunion with McVay and soon to be free agent Kirk Cousins maybe wrapping it up in Washington.

But a solid second season for the Rams had some talk of a long shot MVP as Goff performed better and better.

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Fans in Los Angeles will hope it gets “better and better” when the playoffs roll around.

The NFC West looks to maybe have the best group of quarterbacks, as San Francisco now has Jimmy Garoppolo under center, and leading a four game win streak into the Coliseum for Week 17. In Seattle, Russell Wilson is still solid, even with the Seahawks needing to re-tool for 2018.

As for Arizona, well that’s a question mark as veteran Carson Palmer looks to be in the waning sunset of his career.

As for the Los Angeles Rams, fans will find out as soon as next week if the 16 games Goff excelled in this season will carry over after a week off.

That’s when we all will know if it’s “franchise” or just really good. A small distinction, but also the difference between say, Tom Brady and someone like Andy Dalton.

Next: 3 predictions for Rams against 49ers in Week 17

Good but not great.

Next week we’ll begin to find out which.