Los Angeles Rams: No Gurley means Goff may need to play best game of his career

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams rolls out of the pocket to throw a touchdown pass for a 21-17 lead over the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 27, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 27: Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams rolls out of the pocket to throw a touchdown pass for a 21-17 lead over the Minnesota Vikings during the second quarter at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 27, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

If the Los Angeles Rams are without running back Todd Gurley on Sunday, Jared Goff will need to play bigger than he ever has before.

It’s looking more and more like Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley could be held out or at least limited in their Week 16 divisional game against the 3-11 Arizona Cardinals. Gurley, who has been hampered by knee inflammation, could use a week or maybe even two off to get healthier in an effort to be a bigger factor in postseason play.

With Gurley not in the Rams backfield, the key to a win on Sunday will fall squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Jared Goff, meaning that a game against a cellar dweller like the Cardinals could become the biggest game of his professional career.

Scoff if you like fans, but a win at Arizona is critical as the Chicago Bears are also playing against a bottom division team in the San Francisco 49ers. A loss by the Rams and a win by Chicago suddenly throws Week 17 into another must-win for a team who has clearly slumped coming out of the bye week.

Goff needs to shake off whatever has derailed his game. A change in the Rams backfield courtesy of C.J. Anderson may help to fix some of what is going on with Goff. But if Los Angeles struggles again against the Cardinals, AND IF they add another loss to a two game losing streak, add Gurley to the list along with Cooper Kupp as the two who have established a system quarterback in LA.

Over the top Rams fan won’t like the idea that Goff is playing perhaps the biggest game to date. For them, all is well for a team who can’t seem to find the on switch. But for anyone else who simply watches Los Angeles week-to-week, it’s not a hard conclusion to reach that the bye week didn’t just give them a Sunday off, but it completely put an end to the momentum they had.

While I won’t say Los Angeles has become complacent in winning the NFC West as early as they did, or simply that they got fat on a relatively easy schedule especially within the division, something clearly has put a chill over the Rams.

Like it or not, Week 16 means more than bragging rights for simply having swept a bad Cardinals team. It may also define what kind of quarterback Jared Goff ultimately is.

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