As the LA Rams face the Cardinals today, they also face a fork in the road

As the LA Rams rally behind backup quarterback John Wolford, is there more at stake than a playoff berth?

The LA Rams are starting never seen before backup quarterback John Wolford. This is the first non-Goff occasion for the Rams since head coach Sean McVay joined the team. Of course, the Rams sat Goff to rest him for the playoffs in the finale in 2017, but that was a meaningless game from the Rams’ perspective. Today’s game against the Arizona Cardinals means everything.

Yes, the Rams can advance as the seventh seed if they lose and the Chicago Bears lose. But doing so truly is not the way anyone will be pleased. It would be unearned, a way to sneak into the playoffs when nobody is looking. Of course, a playoff berth is a playoff berth, and anything can happen if the Rams advance. The Rams will likely see the return of OT Andrew Whitworth, DL Michael Brockers, and LB Micah Kiser for starters. That’s tough to ignore.

More than a playoff berth

But the LA Rams are also facing a bit of an identity crisis this year. On one hand, the Rams are a team whose starting quarterback Jared Goff plays best with a strong running game. But the team abandons the run when the defense is stout. On the other hand, the Rams head coach loves to pass the ball to set up the run. But starting quarterback Jared Goff does not prime the offensive pump, and will struggle to open a game with a passing attack. Stalemate.

But here comes quarterback John Wolford. For the first time, the Rams will test their ‘system’ with a new quarterback. While nobody knows what to expect from Wolford, the Rams offense from head coach Sean McVay has some predictable patterns.  Of course, not throwing a football in an NFL game should limit expectations for the guy to light up the Cardinals defense with an aerial assault. Or should it?

Rams offense is designed for a dual-threat QB

The Rams offense loves to threaten defenses with a passing attack to stretch the field sideways and lengthwise. Over time, that has become more and more difficult to pull off as defenses have focused tremendous pressure upon a rather immobile Jared Goff to limit his ability to throw deep. With that negated, defenses simply crowd the box and stop anything that moves towards the line of scrimmage with the football.

The fact is that the Rams offense is designed to amplify the ability of a dual threat quarterback. If the defense crowds the box as they have so often against Jared Goff in the past two seasons, a mobile quarterback like John Wolford can extend the plays and throw deeper to attack the few defenders into the vast unguarded real estate. If the defenders go with nickel or dime coverage to saturate pass coverage, he can simply pull it down and run for a first down.

Steady as she goes

The Rams will likely not see a huge passing game out of John Wolford. But with their defense, a 200 yards passing day with not turnovers may be enough. Can the Rams rally to support him to ensure his first NFL start is a win?  I suspect that they can, and will. Of course, any success today will simply fuel the offseason debate over QB Jared Goff’s future with the Rams.

But that is for another day. For today, the Rams offense is trying to discover it’s true identity. With John Wolford under center, that is truly possible to discover exactly what this team is, and is not, all about. It doesn’t need to be a huge performance by Wolford to define this team. Simply a strong showing will do. An offense that seems to be in command of the outcome will suffice. That’s all that is truly needed. Anything else is simply icing on the cake.