I don't have to iterate all the issues under debate regarding Goff.
To me, though, most of them seem primarily noise. Decision-making, holding the ball, throwing into coverage … to be elite, QBs must do these things. When they succeed, hosannas ring from the rafters. When they fail, the QB is pinned to the wall with each "blunder."
For me, one issue matters. The issue that always matters with QBs. Accuracy. And that's what bothers me about Goff.
Goff and the offense can't get serious momentum going because he misses too many throws. For me, that's the biggest reason why our drives keep stalling out.
And the frustrating thing is that Goff has always been able to throw precise darts. I still recall staring at the CAL highlight reel of TD passes. His accuracy, his precision … I was so pumped and that's why I remained patient with him in that sour rookie year. He could throw darts and lasers.
Last year through the KC game … breathtaking accuracy. And not just on an occasional stab. But throw after throw after throw. Through that stunning game, his accuracy was unmistakably elite. Maybe the best in the game.
Then came the bye and the DET game and suddenly he started missing throws. Badly. Not always because of pressure. Often enough to stall out drives and fracture our offensive rhythm and momentum.
I watch Goff now and see him, miss throws. But I cannot for the life of me see why and how he is missing. I can speculate along with everyone else. But I don't see a pattern indicating what it is. He misses throws under pressure and with time to throw. He misses them into traffic and to open guys. (Those are the worst.) He misses them with quick and delayed releases. Maybe it's confusion, though I have seen him nail pretty complex defensive rotations. Maybe it's distrust of the OL, though his tendency is to err on the side of holding the ball too long. The best I can figure is that for whatever reason he just can't find his rhythm. I've speculated before that he seems to be overthinking his throws. Maybe that's it. But I dunno.
What I do know is that A] Goff's great strength as a QB is accuracy and B] he has not had a game since last year's bye in which he recovered his touch throwing darts and lasers.
I think this is what all the fuss is about. Goff apologists know he has the gift of accuracy and critics know that he has lost--hopefully only temporarily--his passing radar. And Ram fans know that, if we are to hit our potential this year, Goff has to find it again.
