Hard NFL Offseason Question: Should the Rams bail on Jared Goff?

Part of being a winning organization is being able to answer the hard NFL offseason questions that confront the team from year to year.

It’s a question that might seem unfathomable to most but has some basis in reality for those who understand the bottom line of football. A good example is the one posed to the Los Angeles Rams after their humiliating Super Bowl defeat on Sunday. A lot of things went wrong in that game, but there’s no escaping the reality of becoming the only team in history to fail to score a touchdown in the championship game. Considering this was supposed to be the #2 offense in football?

Yeah, that’s ugly. At the center of it all is their quarterback Jared Goff. This is a former #1 overall pick. A two-time Pro Bowler. The Rams traded up and drafted him specifically for moments like this. To be able to elevate his play to meet the moment. Instead, it feels more like Goff wilted under the strain. He finished the day completing just 50% of his passes for 229 yards and one interception.

Keep in mind this was against the 22nd ranked pass defense in the league in the New England Patriots. So it’s not like Goff ran into an elite defense. New England simply had a good game plan to stop the run and force him to beat them. He failed. This marked yet another time in 2018 where it truly felt like his success was more a product of the system than his own talent.

Jared Goff is a different QB when he’s under pressure

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One troubling aspect of Goff is his inability to handle pressure. Too often he’s been attacked by good defenses and delivered some rather rough performances. The three worst games of his season including the Super Bowl were games where he was sacked five, four, and three times respectively. If they’re also able to stop the run? Forget it. The Rams QB has shown he doesn’t have what it takes to respond.

That is troubling. No question about it. One would expect it from a rookie. From a third-year starter with two Pro Bowls on his record? Not good. This is why Los Angeles must stop and assess the situation. Goff’s rookie contract has one year left on it going into 2019. Two including the 5th year option. Odds are they’ll have to start thinking about an extension soon. They have to ask. Is this really the guy we want to hitch our wagon to?

A guy who looked painfully inadequate in the one game that truly matters every NFL season. Conventional wisdom says to stay the course and trust that he’ll learn from the experience and get better. However, there are many of examples throughout history where that never happens. So the Rams have some soul searching to do for the next few months about whether they should abandon the Goff ship before it’s too late.

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