Topic is around why the Rams intentionally stay away from the hurry-up, Question: Does this matter for Goff and Watson's relative performances?
Time of possession is one of the most important metrics after 3rd down conversion percent and turnover %. It usually tells you who controlled the tempo and line of scrimmage on both sides.
Goff was tremendous at Cal in the hurry-up and with explosive plays. He set all the Cal passing records surpassing even the great Aaron Rodgers.
So why doesn't McVay use it more? Why is 2018 so different from 2020? Clearly it lets Goff get into rhythm and the offense performs better.
The best defense is a good offenseI believe the reason McVay avoids the hurry-up is that it is a killer to defense and win %. Hurry Up teams can blow bad teams out but get destroyed by methodical ground games. When you run the hurry-up, you either go 3 and out or you score quickly. Terrible ToP unless your defense creates a lot of turnovers.
Us fans LOVED the Goff/Mahomes shootout of 2 years ago. One of the best games I've ever watched. That style is very hard on your defense and will be unreliable as the season progresses especially into the cold winter playoffs.
McVay wants to control the clock and the Rams run down their play clock on nearly every play. The Rams were pretty good at Time of Possession in the regular season. Between #2 and #5:
https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/average-time-of-possession-net-of-otGuess who was #1? Green Bay and LaFleur.
Guess who was last? Houston and Watson.
The Rams had a very good defense this year. It was made better statistically by an offense that controlled the clock in the top 5. What limited the offense was lack of scoring in the red zone and turnovers.
McVay is coaching for a methodical, short chunk, high % game. It's not that he doesn't want explosive plays, it's that he wants to ensure the high% plays are reviewed first. I think Goff has tried to adjust to this style and it hasn't been to his strength. He doesn't get in rhythm anymore. Defenses are crowding the line because they know everything will be short.
Side notes:- Cal's defense was statically one of the worst in the NCAA during those years. The team was always gassed by the 2nd half. No fun watching a pooped out defense unable to stop anything (See Rams vs Green Bay divisional).
- I am not a believer in Arizona and Kingsbury's system. Arizona was 25th in ToP. They were good early in the season with a high-flying offense that got worse as the season wore on.
- I didn't watch much Watson this year, but his numbers make me wonder if he can still be as effective with McVay in a run first and controlled environment. A mobile QB that can help the running game is very beneficial to a team that wants to control the clock.
