Goff says Rams probably beat 49ers if he plays better...

Jared Goff says Rams probably beat 49ers if he plays better

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

Jared Goff was a big reason for the Rams’ 4-1 start to the year, playing well in just about every game to open the season. He looked like a different quarterback than the one we saw last year, showing more confidence and better accuracy throwing to all levels of the field.

Then the Rams played the 49ers and the 2019 version of Goff showed up again. He missed open receivers, threw an interception in the end zone on fourth down and was making poor decisions with the football, resulting in a 50% completion rate and a 72.0 passer rating.

Goff wasn’t the reason the Rams lost 24-16 on Sunday night, but he also didn’t do enough to help them win. There were too many missed opportunities, and had he capitalized on those chances, the Rams are probably 5-1 right now.

His self-awareness after the loss was good to see, acknowledging that he has to be better in order to win games down the stretch.

“We liked what we had all night and we had guys open,” he said. “We had good things out there and we’ve just got to execute better. We’ve got to be a little bit better at execution. Again, I think if I’m a little bit better tonight, we have a different result and unfortunately that’s the way it goes, but I’ll learn from it and be better.”

Accuracy was Goff’s biggest issue. He completed just 19 of his 38 passes, missing even on the simplest of checkdowns. According to Next Gen Stats, his expected completion percentage was 57.8, giving him a differential of 7.8% – fifth-worst in the NFL this week.

Goff is fully aware of how accurate he usually is, but this was an uncharacteristically bad performance by the young quarterback.

“Well clearly it wasn’t my best,” he said. “It was just some uncharacteristic stuff for me, missing guys open there early. It’s something that I’ve never done in my life and don’t expect to ever repeat. I’ve just got to be a little bit better there at being a little bit more accurate. That’s probably what I do best is accuracy and I would have put us in a little better situation there and given us a chance to a better chance to win.”

Goff’s worst miss came on the Rams’ opening drive. He had Cooper Kupp wide open on a crossing route, but he overthrew him and didn’t give his receiver a chance to make the play. It would’ve gotten the Rams on the fringe of field goal range, but they instead wound up punting a few plays later.

In the second half, Kupp broke free deep down the middle, but Goff led him too far to his left and the pass fell incomplete as the wideout twisted and turned in an attempt to locate the ball.

Those are two throws Goff would like to have back, and had he completed them, the score might’ve been different.

“Again, it starts with me and if I’m accurate on a lot of those balls early on, we’re not even talking about this right now,” he said. “It’s a good chance, like I heard Andrew [Whitworth] say for us to look in the mirror and get better and come back. We’ve got another big game next Monday night. There’s a lot of stuff to work on, a lot of stuff to be better at.”