LA Rams QB Jared Goff TNF performance similar to SB 53

LA Rams QB Goff was judged harshly in Super Bowl 53. But he actually no worse than the Thursday Night Football performance

Did LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff lose Super Bowl 53 for the team? If you said yes, then you are not going to like the rest of this article. You see, there is a common theme that runs rampant among the fans who distrust Rams quarterback Jared Goff. It started in Super Bowl 53 and has propagated over nearly the past two years. Now, the mindset is so skewed to look for bad news of Goff, that is the only information that registers.

So many now focus upon Jared Goff’s turnovers. But the statistic that gets tossed around so often is the strangely curious ‘since 2019’ timeframe.

Why that timeframe? Well, it’s the moment that the Rams struggled to run the ball, and placed the ball in a young quarterback’s hands with the expectation that he would pass the team to constant wins behind the 31st-ranked offensive line and the support of the 26th-ranked running attack is part of the answer.

Rams QB Jared Goff has been the main weapon for the LA Rams offense since 2019. More passes will naturally translate to more interceptions. So why isn’t that part of the information? Simply stated, it doesn’t support that ‘Goff is bad’ or ‘Goff is a system quarterback’ narrative. Goff is a workhorse, plain and simple.

Selective analysis

But the truth is that it’s the statistical evidence that most supports the ‘he’s not that good’ narrative. Goff’s most challenging seasons statistically were 2019 and 2020. Why do so many simply ignore the crazy good seasons he had in 2017 and 2018 when he threw for 60 touchdowns and just 19 interceptions?

Or is it that the Rams have only had a 100-yard rusher twice over that time frame? Once by Darrell Henderson when he rushed for 114 yards against the Buffalo Bills, and the second time when rookie RB Cam Akers rushed for 171 yards against the Patriots? Without a viable rushing attack, what stops defenses from keying on the Rams passing game? Nothing.