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Rams wasting Super Bowl-caliber defense with turnover-prone QB
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Los Angeles is the city of champions.
But if the Los Angeles Rams are to follow in the footsteps of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Dodgers by winning an NFL championship, head coach Sean McVay has to figure out how to get his offense to play competent football with his defense playing so well.
McVay’s ability to create magic and innovation on offense is well-documented, and one of the reasons the Rams reached the Super Bowl two years ago.
However, that has not been the case for McVay’s offense this season. Specifically, quarterback Jared Goff has really struggled taking of the football, and it’s put McVay’s Rams in a precarious spot.
The Rams have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but their efforts have been squandered at times due to the offense’s recklessness with the football and inability to manage the game.
Goff was responsible for three turnovers in his team’s 23-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, leading to seven points for the Niners.
In all, Goff has turned the ball over 14 times this season, 10 interceptions and four fumbles. His 14 turnovers this season is tied with Kirk Cousins for second-most in the league behind Carson Wentz (18).
Goff’s 62 turnovers since 2017 is second-most in the NFL behind only Jameis Winston (70), now third on the depth chart this season at quarterback for the New Orleans Saints.
A terse McVay called Goff out specifically in his post-game comments.
“Our quarterback has to take better care of the football,” he said.
Asked how Goff can do that, McVay offered some solutions.
“Each play is its own individual situation,” McVay said. “It might be keeping two hands on the ball. It might be understanding that someone is swarming around and you can’t just throw it away when you can’t see where you are going.
“Being able to trust your guys to separate. But overall, any time you turn it over as many times as we did and he did, it’s just got to be better. And he’s capable of it, but we’ve just got to be able to get it done.”To the defense’s credit, Aaron Donald and company managed to force three turnovers of their own, including one for a touchdown that sparked Los Angeles’ second-half comeback.
Donald said when the offense is struggling, part of the defense’s job is creating momentum-changing plays that serve as a spark for the team.
“For sure, and I think it did,” Donald said. “If you saw, we made some turnovers on defense, scored a touchdown. And then we came back and made a couple big stops, and the offense came back and scored.
“We feed off each other. So, we have to do that consistently. If things aren’t going good, we have to keep playing, make a big play and try to change the momentum.”
But the quarterback has the most impact on winning and losing in the NFL because he touches the ball on every play on offense. Goff knows that. Goff understands that he has to play better if the Rams are to make a deep playoff run and have a chance to create a championship trifecta for Los Angeles.
“At the end of the day, they need to be eliminated,” Goff said about the turnovers. “I don’t think there’s one thing that needs to be stopped. I just need to be a little smarter with the ball, and better decision making. That’s part of my job. There are other parts of the job, but that’s the main part and it’s something I need to be a lot better at.”
