NFC West quarterbacks adding extra pressure on Jared Goff entering second half of 2019

Jared Goff faces extra pressure with the Los Angeles Rams during the final stretch of the 2019 season as a result of the success from other NFC West quarterbacks.

Over the last few years, Jared Goff always took a backseat to Russell Wilson when it comes to being the best quarterback within the division, and rightfully so when comparing each of their careers.

While Goff has certainly been developing with the Los Angeles Rams over the last couple of years as a result of Sean McVay‘s offense, Wilson already has a Super Bowl to his name.

Most importantly, since Wilson entered the NFL in 2012, the Seattle Seahawks have only missed the playoffs once, which came during McVay’s first season with the Rams in 2017 when Los Angeles emerged out of nowhere to win the NFC West.

Once again, Wilson has been playing at a MVP level for the Seahawks throughout the 2019 season, and some will say the Wisconsin product even deserves to be considered the favorite at the moment.

And while Wilson’s impressive play to help Seattle currently sit in second place in the NFC West has obviously put extra pressure on Goff with the Rams, the Seahawks star isn’t the only quarterback within the division causing problems.

Entering last season, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the new potential rivalry involving Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo after the San Francisco 49ers decided to reward their quarterback with a hefty long-term deal.

After years consisting of trying to find a new quarterback to build the franchise around, Garoppolo seemed to be the answer the team was patiently waiting for, but unfortunately his 2018 campaign would be cut short as a result of a torn ACL.

Now that Garoppolo is healthy, the 49ers quarterback has played a major role in his team being the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL entering Week 10, and as long as they avoid any sort of collapse, chances are San Francisco will win the NFC West.

All of a sudden, Goff seemed to go from taking a backseat to Wilson when it comes to the best quarterback in the division to doing the same with Garoppolo as well.

Even if some will try to make the case that Goff still has an advantage over Garoppolo due to experience, it’s difficult to defend the former No. 1 pick when looking at some of his 2019 struggles on top of San Francisco’s 8-0 record.

Take all of this into consideration with the fact that Kyler Murray is playing surprisingly better than expected in his first year with the Arizona Cardinals since the team already has three wins to their name, to say Goff is facing extra pressure moving forward would be a huge understatement.

Goff was already facing plenty of pressure over the fact that Los Angeles currently sits at 5-3, and wouldn’t even be in the playoffs if the season were to end today, but the amazing play from the rest of the quarterbacks within the division takes things to an extra level.

Beginning on Sunday when the Rams hit the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, here’s to hoping Goff proves to be capable of handling the pressure since Los Angeles will need every win possible over the next two months just to have a fighting shot at the playoffs.

Otherwise, it’s going to be a long offseason if Goff and the Rams are watching the playoffs from home while other quarterbacks within the division like Garoppolo and Wilson are still playing football come January.