LA Rams QB Jared Goff’s season may be over

The Rams lose a second game, but the greater loss may be losing QB Goff and RB Henderson

The LA Rams, for better or worse, married themselves to the fortunes of young quarterback Jared Goff. and he to the Rams. The pair were so enamored with one another that they crafted a contract for the next four seasons, until 2024, that will ensure Goff’s financial security, as well as the Rams, filling a need for a starting quarterback.

It is much like a marriage. It even contractually obligates both sides for-better-or-for-worse. The only problem is, the relationship is a bit strained right now. And to make matters worse, in the second week of heroics, a player went back into the game despite a serious injury. This time? It was Goff, and the injury was to the thumb of his throwing hand.

It appears as though that the Rams will be seeing someone new under center soon.

The last of the pocket passers

The pattern of social media with the Rams’ ability to win or lose games has been an unhealthy pattern of blaming losses and failures on Jared Goff. To some extent, he has earned some of the blame, some of the mistrust. But there are more dynamics going on with the Rams offense than meets the eye.

Goff is a traditional pocket passer in a game swinging towards a dual-threat quarterback offense. Still, Goff has plenty of talent. But he appears tarnished now, the guy who ‘couldn’t get it done’ in the Super Bowl, or simply the guy who is now ‘paid too much’. And if anyone dares to defend the guy, or simply state facts, then that person is a Goff rationalizer. In the crazy zany 2020, suddenly supporting the team’s starting quarterback is shunned.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

But now what? Will the fans be as discerning to the next quarterback under center for the Rams? Of will he be graded on a curve?  At some point, some will notice that the Rams offense will be more about a quarterback scrambling for his life than worrying about throwing the ball downfield.

At some point, the Rams quarterback sacks will go up because Goff isn’t throwing the ball away quickly. At some point, the Rams box stats will be less about the quarterback play, and more about the offensive line, or the lack of commitment to running the ball to help out the new guy. In the end, the quarterback play may decline, but the bar of expectations will lower from lofty expectations.

Turnovers?

The quarterback play is And yet, the facts are these. Jared Goff has thrown for nearly 4000 yards once more. Since Sean McVay has taken over, he has led the team to a 42-20 record, always a winning season. In 2020, he has thrown for 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. While some of the interceptions have been poor optics, others were simply flukes where defenders got a great bounce or ripped the ball out of the hands of a receiver.

Goff has made the most play-action passing attempts than any quarterback in the NFL. The problem with that is simply that the Rams have remained pass-centric, which has significantly lowered the willingness of defenses to ‘bite’ on the running play. All the while, the Rams passing offense is designed to throw quickly to receivers, and allow them to generate big plays with yards after the catch.

All that means is that there are more defenders in the target zone for Goff than the average offense. And with Goff attempting the sixth most passing attempts in the NFL, he is throwing the ball into some of the busiest parts of the field.  The Rams will be forced to try something new now. Much like the December 2019 offense that suddenly discovered that tight ends can catch some footballs.  This latest development will force the Rams to change their offense once more.

Perhaps, in the end, the Rams will discover that it wasn’t just Goff. In many bad relationships, nothing can be fixed until both parties look within for the solution.