The Five spot: Fixing Rams QB Jared Goff
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Some news and notes related to the Los Angeles Rams as they prepare for an important, Week 10 contest against the NFC West division-leading Seattle Seahawks.
1. Coming off his worst performance of the year in a Week 8 loss against the Miami Dolphins, Jared Goff is at a crossroads this season.
Goff knows he can play good football. He’s done it before and will put up scintillating performance again at some point this season. What Goff and Rams head coach Sean McVay have to figure out is how to eliminate nose-pinching performances by Goff in games against teams like the Miami’s pressure defensive front two weeks again, when he turned the ball over four times in one half.
Good players are going to have poor performances on occasion in the NFL. Just look at how Russell Wilson played last week against the Buffalo Bills. What’s troubling for the Rams and Goff is how he’s performed when pressured this season.
Per Next Gen Stats, Goff has completed 24-of-64 passes (37.5 percent) for 294 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions when pressured this season. He’s been sacked 10 times, posting a 38.2 passer rating in those situations.
Goff also has turned the ball over eight times and the Rams have turned it over 12 times as a team, with opponents scoring 51 off those miscues.
McVay has done a nice job creating an offense that takes advantage of Goff’s skill set as a passer. It’s based on running the football and the play-action game. And when Goff is working under these parameters, he’s effective.
However, at times it seems that McVay gets away from this blueprint and puts Goff in situations where he struggles.
“I just keep being me,” Goff said, when asked how he will try and bounce back from the poor performance at Miami. “Just keep working, keep getting better. Obviously, that game didn’t’ go the way we wanted it to, but you’re going to have those, and you try to limit them, but just bounce back and be myself.”
One person close to Goff that’s helping him in that process is offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. In practice this week during individual work, O’Connell got back to the basics, simulating pressure during individual work to speed up the clock for Goff so that he makes decisions quicker in high-pressure situations.
O’Connell said it’s not just up to Goff, but all 11 players on offense and the coaching staff to perform better in those pressure situations.
“It’s just a matter of understanding the things that we could fix and the details in which we practice things and making sure that not only our quarterback, but everybody has a great plan and the ability to feel kind of poised and relaxed under pressure -- whether it’s all-out pressure, whether it’s five, six-man pressure, whether teams are dropping eight in coverage,” O’Connell said. “No matter what defenses do, we want to have our guys prepared and have a plan to execute at a really high level and that’s the expectation, no matter what.”
While the Seahawks are not known as a blitzing defense, surely Goff will see those zero blitzes on Sunday, and it’s important that he respond the right way.
McVay will have to balance calling a game where he can take advantage of Seattle’s struggles defending the pass while also putting Goff in good situations where he can effectively lead the offense.
Perhaps McVay can lea on 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs) more in the second half of the season. The formation allows the Rams to effectively run the football, yet better protect Goff in passing situations.
This season, Goff is 21-of-36 for 284 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions in “12” personnel (102.1 passer rating). The Rams have employed “12” personnel 23 percent of the time this season.
There’s certainly times when the Rams want to spread the field and take advantage of matchups by using three-receiver sets, but getting back to using heavier formations could be an advantage for an L.A. offensive line executing well and playing physical up front.
2. Entering Week 10, NFL offenses are averaging 25.3 points per game, which would be the most since the 1970 NFL merger if it holds up through the end of the season.
NFL observers have pointed to penalties like offensive holding being called less, more passing, offenses playing at a faster pace and going for it more on fourth down as reasons for the uptick in scoring.
I asked two defensive coaches deeply involved in stopping these prolific offenses this season for their perspective on why scoring is up this year.
“There has to be a factor in there with the lack of training camp for defenses,” Seattle head coach and longtime defensive guru Pete Carroll said. “Because offenses continue to roll, and we’re certainly seeing it.
“I don’t know about the number of throws, but we’re certainly seeing a ton more. I don’t think the tackling is a good as it usually is, and that may have to do with a month of camp and games, and all of that. But offenses as hot right now, and quarterbacks are playing great football.”
Speaking of quarterbacks, Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley pointed to the addition of young, athletic quarterbacks that put stress on defenses with their arm and their feet like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.
“Every year you’re seeing offenses push the envelope and I think what’s really changed in this league is the way the quarterbacks are,” Staley said. “I think that so much of the old -- that traditional style of quarterback was kind of methodical, sort of poetry in motion.
“With these new quarterbacks, it’s such a dynamic event every week because they can create so many more opportunities for offense to happen. I mean, there’s so many ways yards can happen now because how athletic and how creative these quarterbacks are, because they can throw it just as well as everybody in the history of the game and now you add this mobility element, this creativity element and it’s tough.”
3. McVay needs to figure out how to get more out of second-round selections Cam Akers and Van Jefferson. The two showed promise during training camp but have a combined for just 294 total yards from scrimmage and no touchdowns.
I understand offense can only play as fast as their least experienced player, and certainly there is a steep learning curve for rookie, skill position players in McVay’s complex scheme.
However, good coaches figure out what their players do best, simply things and put them I positions to succeed. Look at what Andy Reid does in Kansas City. And for an offense averaging just 24.1 points per game, No. 21 in the NFL, McVay needs to figure out how to get all of his playmakers involved. Maybe Akers can run a jet sweep?
4. They said it: “I think Kobe talked about this in his documentary. He said that he just does a lot of the small, simple things, right? And I do them over and over again. He said people that don’t account for these little things, that’s what I do well. And I do them over, over and over again. That’s what separates you. So I think the same thing.” – Rams linebacker Kenny Young talking about the maturation of his team’s defense from training camp to now, giving up just 19 points a game.
5. Did you know: Since McVay took over in 2017, the Rams have scored a league-high 171 points in no-huddle situations.
