What if LA Rams Jared Goff can no longer put up great numbers?

Get Goff into a groove

While we can debate the pros and cons of Jard Goff under center, it makes sense for the team to make a much harder effort to getting Goff back into a groove on offense. After all, the Rams center of gravity seems to be trying to replicate the 2018 offense results by returning to 2018 offensive plays whenever possible. And inevitably, some defense detects that pattern, dusts off their defense to stop it, and we get games where it seems as though Jared Goff has lost the will to compete.

Goff should not be on an island behind center when the defense can anticipate the offensive game plan.  While the Rams have done a better job of running the ball after the bye week (77 rushes vs. 114 passes), the Rams are distancing themselves further and further from solutions discovered just a year before. The Rams can stretch the field and give Goff more time to throw by using two tight ends. And yet, the simplest solutions are the most difficult to find it seems.

Debate another day

Yes, Goff has bad games. There are times when he appears to go temporarily blind, throw the ball straight into the chest of a defender, or simply have the ball stripped from his hands with great ease. It may be that he will have those games surface occasionally throughout his career. That may very well be part of the ‘that’s who Jared Goff will always be’, and part of the 40 wins 17 losses enjoyed by the Rams since 2017.

The concern is the ability of Goff to put bad games behind him and snap back with impressive victories. In 2019, he had three horrific games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, and Baltimore Ravens before snapping back with a great game against the Arizona Cardinals. Right now, Goff is in a four-game slump where his worst performance came at the hands of the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers.

Can Goff get his groove back? Can he put up multiple TDs with 0 turnovers again? Now would be a great time for that type of game. But the time to rebound seems to be getting longer and longer. Hopefully, the Rams offense finds the way back. The defense is in NFL Playoff form, and the special teams are definitely coming around now. How ironic is it for the Rams playoff chances to hinge upon the offense finding its way back to performing well once more?  This should not fall upon the shoulders of one player. And the fix should not fall upon one player either.

Can LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff rebound? Yes. Will he? Well, that’s the question. We’ll know more after this weekend.