LA Rams game day primer: Rams ‘Jetting’ to playoffs?

Can Goff shred a bad pass defense?

There is a great deal of focus upon LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff right now. Of course, the fact that he has been a national headline twice has helped. If you haven’t been keeping score, ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson created quite a stir by stating that Rams QB Jared Goff was better than the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray prior to the game. The Rams won that game, and Goff truly did perform better. Of course, just days later, Fox Sports analyst Terry Bradshaw took the opposite stance, and called for the LA Rams to ‘bench his ass’.

Despite the public controversy, Goff has quietly compiled a pretty good season so far this year. His accuracy of 68.2 percent is a career-high.  His current TD totals of 18 projects to 23 for the season, while his 11 interceptions project to a season total of 14.  And while his current pace will land him at just 4,400 yards for the season, the Rams are in a good position to make a run at 12-4 this year and claim the NFC West title in two of the past three years.  Of course, a good showing against a porous Jets pass defense would improve these projections.

Another quarterback under siege?

The Jets are struggling with their own quarterback controversy. They selected former USC quarterback Sam Darnold with the third pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Darnold was by no means a finished product when he arrived at the NFL. He was blessed, or cursed, with a gunslinger’s mentality.  For comparison purposes, he had a career range of an upside of Brett Favre, while on the downside of Jake Plummer.  So far, his career has tracked more closely to Plummer’s career. And there’s the rub.

The Jets are almost certain to be awarded the first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. Right now, the consensus top prospect is Clemson’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Of course, that creates quite a challenge for the Jets, who just used a first-round pick in 2018. So what are they to do? Well, many analysts speculate that the Jets will trade Darnold in the offseason for whatever they can get. The problem is that his production has drastically deflated his market value. At least one Rams’ receiver has publicly supported Darnold, opening speculation that players may lobby to acquire Darnold in the offseason.