LA Rams: Wednesday walkabout of the NFC West

LA Rams

Okay, moving along to the LA Rams, what is the take on Jared Goff, who was better in 2020, but by how much?

Jay Blucher: Well, there are 67 million reasons why the Rams will probably stick with Goff under center next season, now aren’t there? Fiscal realities matter, in football and life.

And we won’t speak any more of that massive contract for a 26-year-old QB still so young and new in the league.

He’s been wildly inconsistent. You never quite know from game-to-game which flavor of Goff you’re going to get. Will it be the Philadelphia game where he diced up the Eagles for 267 yards and three TDs with zero INTs?  Or, will it be the Goff who showed up (or did he?) for the 28-7 17 loss to Miami where he threw two INT’s, put the ball on the ground twice, and could have easily endured a few more giveaways had Miami defenders not butter-fingered a few more errant back-foot heaves to nowhere.

Bret Stuter: The LA Rams certainly hoped to restore quarterback Jared Goff to his 2018 form in 2020.  That met with only marginal success, which has started the firestorm of speculation and rumors to kickoff this off-season with a bang.  For the 2020 season, Jared Goff was certainly more accurate. And for some games, he seemed to be his old self. In fact, in early games, he seemed to be a better version, as he was able to stand tall in the pocket when needed, and move in the pocket when necessary.

But it happened. He reverted into that familiar deer-in-the-headlights, frozen in the gaze of danger, paralyzed in processing the right place to throw, stupefied in games against the 49ers and Dolphins. He was neither affected by the defense nor leader-like of the offense in the game against the New York Jets. He was just… well, there.  But if you want a true comparison and contrast, then look to the first game against the Seahawks and then the second game against those same ‘Hawks. Good Goff can move the ball and score. Bad Goff eventually can move the ball. Need a better example? The Buffalo Bills game, where the first half was all Buffalo, and the second half was all Goff. While John Wolford does not beat the same skillset as Goff, neither does he bear the burden of paralysis by over-analysis under pressure.

I think that Jared Goff has the makings of a great quarterback, a Super Bowl winner. But I can also see the Jared Goff now who has the makings of an also-ran. A quarterback who will do well enough each year to get the Rams to the playoffs, but never through the playoffs. I wish it were not the case. When I had this same feeling about RB Todd Gurley and WR Brandin Cooks, the rumors of the Rams moving both players off the roster came true by springtime. Now, the Rams are wrestling with very similar and uncomfortably familiar decisions.