Jared Goff took another major step for Los Angeles Rams in Week 9, despite loss

Even though the Los Angeles Rams lost for the first time in Week 9, Jared Goff continues to take major steps from a development perspective.

Sooner or later, the Los Angeles Rams seemed to know that it was only a matter of time before the team suffered that first loss of 2018, which unfortunately took place on Sunday when facing the New Orleans Saints.

Right away, the Saints wasted no time putting up points on the Rams, and seeing them up 35-14 at one point in the first half says it all over the kind of game this was for Sean McVay‘s team.

However, just because Los Angeles suffered their first loss doesn’t mean it’s time to hit the panic button since this team will still be considered a serious contender in the NFC moving forward, although they may want to make some adjustments on the defensive side of the football.

Not to mention, the offense continues to show they are loaded with talent to be considered nightmares for opponents. And while Todd Gurley tends to receive most of the attention for the unit’s success, the Rams also know they wouldn’t be in this kind of position if it wasn’t for Jared Goff running the show under center.

Around this time last year, the rest of the NFL was beginning to realize just how special of a quarterback Goff was when seeing how much the former California star flourished in McVay’s offense.

In fact, one of the main reasons why Los Angeles was so high on McVay in the first place was due to his history of quarterback development during his time with the Washington Redskins when seeing the kind of impact the coach had on Kirk Cousins.

Plenty of Rams fans were ready to write Goff after a horrendous rookie season that consisted of the quarterback going 0-7 as the starter, but also it was unfair to place the blame on him when seeing how the team did a terrible job trying to set him up to succeed. From a poor offensive line to a weak receiving corps, any quarterback in Goff’s position would have struggled to win games with an awful team like Los Angeles had in 2016.

Luckily, things are much different two years later, as Goff is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Rams, and is on the verge of setting new career highs in numerous categories since he’s already thrown for 2,816 yards with 20 touchdowns.

Even more impressive, Goff continues to show new signs of developing into the kind of quarterback Los Angeles previously spent years searching for when seeing how much he kept his cool during Sunday’s loss to New Orleans.

As mentioned before, there was a time during Sunday’s game in which the Rams found themselves trailing 35-14 towards the end of the second quarter. But instead of hitting the panic button like some Los Angeles fans did while assuming the game was over, Goff managed to help the Rams rally from 21 down to tie up the game in the fourth quarter at 35-35.

Obviously, the end results would have been much better to enjoy if Los Angeles ended up winning the contest instead of losing 45-35, but at least Goff deserves some credit for showing he was able to help the Rams get back in this contest.

Whether Goff wants to hear it or not, these are the games in which players benefit in the long run since this provides the Rams quarterback with a perfect opportunity for him to learn from his mistakes. Even if the defense was a major issue for Los Angeles in this one, at least the progress Goff continues to make continues to reassure the team made the right choice back in 2016 when they decided to trade up in the first round to land their beloved quarterback at No. 1.