Goff starting to look like a No. 1 pick after best game of his career against 49ers

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den-the-coach

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Goff starting to look like a No. 1 pick after best game of his career against 49ers

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Posted by Curtis Crabtree on September 22, 2017, 12:43 AM EDT

There wasn’t much to get excited about based on Jared Goff‘s seven starts as a rookie last season for the Los Angeles Rams. Seven starts, five touchdowns, seven interceptions and not a single victory to show for his troubles.

But through the first three games of the 2017 season, Goff appears to have made significant strides forward.

Goff completed 22 of 28 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the victory in what was certainly his best start as a professional. He also wasn’t sacked once by the 49ers, the first such game of his career. After not throwing for more than 235 yards in any of seven starts in 2016, Goff posted his first 300-yard gain in L.A.’s season opening win against the Indianapolis Colts and nearly reached 300 yards again Thursday night against the 49ers.

The Rams have already scored more points in three games this season (107) than in Goff’s seven starts combined from last season (85). The Rams failed to score more than 21 points in any game Goff started last year. They’ve twice eclipsed 40 points scored already this season after their 41-39 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.

While the change in coaching staff almost certainly has made a significant difference as well, Goff is starting to show that he was worthy of the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. If he can continue to play like he has through the first three weeks, the Rams might find themselves a playoff contender come the end of the season.

[profootballtalk.nbcsports.com]
 

CGI_Ram

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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...s-jared-goff-impresses-in-bay-area-homecoming

Rams' Jared Goff impresses in Bay Area homecoming

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- She had a skinny margarita in her hand and a knot in her stomach, a familiar feeling intensified by the circumstances. As Nancy Goff sat at a Mexican restaurant near Levi's Stadium on Thursday afternoon and stole a quiet moment with her husband, Jerry, as they entertained a group of fellow Northern Californians, the mother of the Los Angeles Rams' starting quarterback was conspicuously nervous about his nationally televised Bay Area homecoming.

"I'm always bad on game day, and this might be a little worse than usual," Nancy said. "Night game, playing the 49ers, all these people we know here to see him... I mean, I think Jared will do great... but it's always stressful."

Three hours later, Jared Goff went out and summoned a tour de force performance that put his parents at ease -- and did the same for Rams fans everywhere, and for the legions of skeptics who dogged him after a trying rookie season.

Goff, the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, showed a Thursday Night Football audience exactly why the Ramsgave up so much to get him. The second-year quarterback from nearby Cal completed 22-of-28 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns and led the Rams(2-1) to a thrilling, 41-39 victory over the 49ers, an outcome that wasn't secure until star defensive tackle Aaron Donald's fourth-down sack of San Francisco quarterback Brian Hoyer to extinguish a furious Niners comeback with 1:44 to go.

"That was scary," Goff said afterward in a private conversation at his locker. "But man was it fun. There's something about being back in the Bay Area that gets me going. Honestly, it felt like we were in Berkeley -- scoring all the time and needing to score some more. They kept coming at us. I thought I was gonna have to go out and score one more time to win it."

That wasn't necessary, thanks to a squelched two-point conversion with 2:17 to go and the subsequent defensive stand following a successful San Francisco onside kick. What Goff did do was continue to win over many of the cynics who wrote him off during his miserable rookie season, when he struggled behind an ineffective offensive line and in an oft-criticized scheme that helped provoke head coach Jeff Fisher's dismissal.

The Rams proceeded to hire the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, then-30-year-old Sean McVay. And the former Washington offensive coordinator has made an immediate and emphatic impact in L.A., with Goff as the most obvious beneficiary.

"Sean is so good," Goff said. "I love this offense. We had 78 plays sent in, I think, and there was maybe one of his calls I didn't like. He gives me so many answers. I'm loving it."

After Goff's near-flawless effort in front of 70,178 fans at Levi's -- and after two throws in particular -- the affection was decidedly mutual.

"This was his best performance yet," McVay told me as he sat in the coaches' dressing area of the visitors' locker room. "Especially after last week (a 27-20 defeat to Washington), when he threw that late interception -- he just bounced back and came up huge in crunch time. You know what I like about him? In games, he does not f---- flinch. He's mentally tough, in good times and bad, and that's exactly what you want your quarterback to be like. Because it's an occupational hazard: Bad things are gonna happen when you play this position."

The first of the two plays that blew away McVay was a gorgeous 47-yard pass to Sammy Watkins on the first drive of the second half, which ended with a Greg Zuerlein field goal that pushed the Rams' lead to 27-13. Goff, after selling a nice play-fake to halfback Todd Gurley (28 carries, 113 yards, two touchdowns; five receptions, 36 yards, one TD), lofted a rainbow toward the left sideline that fell into Watkins' arms, eluding Niners defensive backs Dontae Johnson and Jimmie Ward.

"It was a run-pass option," McVay said. "It takes stones to throw the ball there."

The second play, a third-and-10 checkdown to Gurley with 10:57 left in the game, was a testament to Goff's brains.

"He got all the way through the progression and found Todd on the backside," McVay said of Goff. "It was basically his fifth read. That's impressive."

After getting the first down, Gurley broke a tackle and ended up with a 27-yard gain, putting the ball at the San Francisco 19. Two plays later, Goff found Watkins (six catches, 106 yards, two TDs) underneath for a 13-yard score, increasing the Rams' lead to 41-26.

"Great night for Jared," McVay said. "and I think he's only gonna get better and better."

And on this night, as she and Jerry drove 75 miles north to their home in nearby Novato, Nancy Goff felt much better than she had in the hours before the game.
 

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http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...en-stats-goffled-rams-offense-growing-quickly

Next Gen Stats: Goff-led Rams offense growing quickly

The Los Angeles Rams are a new team. The signs were there in a blowout win over the Colts in Week 1 and maintained their presence even as the Rams fell to Washington in Week 2. Thursday, however, the new-look L.A. Rams announced to the national stage that they are a truly different entity.

The Rams held onto a wild 41-39 win over their similarly remade division rival San Francisco 49ers in what was the highest-scoring Thursday Night Football game to date. It seemed impossible to ever fathom this during the Jeff Fisher era, but the Rams have scored 40 points in two of their first three 2017 contests.

It all starts on offense for the Rams, specifically at the epicenter of their scoring attack. While Jared Goff floundered last year to a porous rookie season finish, he shined Thursday. If it wasn't clear already, we can cast blame on the previous Rams coaching staff for planting the seed of Goff's young career in soil simply not fertile for quarterback growth and development.

The relationship between Goff and Sean McVay, and the nurturing the new head coach provides, is apparent in the quarterback's fresh style of play. Last season, Goff led all quarterbacks with 25.4 percent of his passes going into tight windows (less than one yard of separation). So far in 2017, just 14.8 percent of his throws have gone into a tight window. Such an approach isn't unusual for a McVay quarterback. Kirk Cousins, who McVay coached in Washington, threw just 14.3 percent of his passes into tight windows in 2016, the second-lowest among starting quarterbacks.

The "McVay Effect" is a popular notion among those noting the Rams' turnaround on offense. If there was a quantifiable way to measure it, this is it. McVay's ability to spread the field and design layup throws for his quarterbacks keeps the offense moving in an efficient fashion. What's even better for the young coach is that his quarterback is showing an ability to deliver in even the high-leverage situations.

Against the 49ers, 17.9 percent of Goff's throws went into tight windows and he posted a passer rating of 143.8, easily the best mark of his career to date. Behind an improved offensive line, we're seeing Goff avoid the mistakes he made in the past when the pass rush bears down. Goff registered the best passer rating of his career with a 118.8. The confidence he now plays with has unlocked a more downfield approach in the passing game. Goff averaged 8.0 air yards per completion Thursday, way up from the 5.5 average he posted as a rookie.

No question the development and growth of their franchise quarterback is the most welcomed sign the Rams could ask for. Yet, they must also be pleased with the improvements made by another former first-round pick.

Todd Gurley was excepted to take his place near the top of the NFL's pantheon of running backs as this decade's Adrian Peterson after he scored 10 touchdowns in 13 games as a rookie in 2015. We all know the story didn't go that way in 2016. Gurley slumped to a sub 900-yard season on the ground as other young running backs like David Johnson and Ezekiel Elliott zoomed past.

Much like his quarterback, it appears Gurley's replanting in fertile soil provided the needed fix to put his career back on track. Neither the Colts or Redskins saw much need to dedicate extra resources to slow down the Rams back. In Weeks 1-2, Gurley saw eight-plus defenders in the box on just 14.3 percent of his carries. Tonight, he saw a stacked box on 50 percent. Even though some of them were in the red zone, Gurley ripped off 3.29 yards per carry against eight-plus defenders in the back, compared to 2.60 during Weeks 1 and 2.

Not many free-agent additions are so immediately impactful that it's noticeable. Yet, that's exactly what the Rams have in left tackle Andrew Whitworth. Between the former Bengals star locking down the blindside among more shuffling up front, an offensive line that made Gurley's job an impossible task in 2016 is now an asset. Gurley averaged a mere -0.1 yards per carry before a defender was within one yard of him in 2016. Against the 49ers, he averaged 1.3 yards. As the entire offense announced their presence to the NFL Network audience, one Ram made his own individual catwalk across the stage. Sammy Watkins was quiet in his first two games with Los Angeles, totaling just 88 yards. Watkins broke loose tonight with 106 yards and two touchdowns on six catches. In his first two games as a Ram, Watkins just didn't get downfield. The skill he honed so well in Buffalo was nowhere to be found, as he averaged just 5.7 air yards per target. Watkins did what he did best Thursday and got vertical, averaging 12.4 air yards per target and hauled in a 40-plus deep reception.

Watkins' ability to be an easy separator despite being treated like a true No. 1 receiver was once again notable. The 49ers gave him an average cushion of just 4.8 yards at the line of scrimmage. Despite that tight coverage, Watkins shook free to average 2.6 yards of separation on his targets.

With Goff looking like a functional NFL quarterback, Gurley reestablishing career momentum and Watkins frightening defenders in the deep game, as McVay pulls the strings, it's time to take the Los Angeles Rams' offense seriously. Every metric in the Next Gen Stats arsenal shows this is a completely different entity than 2016's iteration. One of the NFL's most exciting new coaches in McVay is planting just the right seeds, and the Rams' own version of the triplets are sprouting.

Matt Harmon is a writer/editor for NFL.com, and the creator of #ReceptionPerception, who you can follow on Twitter @MattHarmon_BYB or like on Facebook.
 

LARAMSinFeb.

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Turns out Goff has the one thing everyone thought would be his biggest weakness: he seems cool as a cucumber out there and seems to have a lot of confidence and swagger to go along with the talent. I'll admit I didn't see that coming.
 

den-the-coach

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I'll admit I didn't see that coming.

One of the major assets of Goff that attracted him to the Rams was his red zone efficiency and to date, he has not disappointed and I also was one of his major detractors because of that red head in Philly, but Goff is showcasing why many on this board and I know there was others, but @jrry32 did talk me off the ledge a few times last year and now there is a red head in Los Angeles working very well with the California Golden Boy that now has a Midas Touch.
 

kurtfaulk

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the bust talk still irks me to this day. i don't know why because i don't care what those idiots in the media think but it soon became the narrative anywhere you visited. the worst part was they would talk about the horrible jeff fisher scheme, the horrible oline, the horrible receivers and yet they still said a rookie qb was a bust. like he was supposed to rise above all that shit working against him even though he came from a spread system in college and had the worst offensive coaches the league had ever seen. i don't get it. that's why it irked me and will always irk me.

that and the rising sun comments. can you believe some bozo on the nfl network brought it up again after the game. thanks weinke you fuckwit. all for that shit tv show, whatever it's called. so shit i can't even remember it's name.

ahhhh, i feel better now.

.
 

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Dare we open our eyes next Tuesday and the Rams are now in the top 10 of the Power Rankings? It's just a ranking and there are a bunch of them, but, it would suggest even the haters who give the rankings are saying "Holy crap, who are these guys?" Much like the S.I. with Kurt Warner on the cover "Who Is This Guy?"
 

rking4441

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I live and work in the Philly area and Goff/McVay have quieted the critics here. I think the Rams chose just the right coach to match Goff's skill set. I thought Wentz would have fit for Fisher's coaching style but am glad Fisher is no longer in LA and that the team chose Goff over Wentz. I also think that with Goff the Rams will have a more durable and effective player since he puts his body at risk a lot less than Wentz. And what a job the FO did over the off season to being in the talent they did. As much as people hate on Snead he really brought in a lot of talent during the Fisher years and in this past off season. Is it too soon to think Playoffs (In Jim Mora's voice)?
 

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/09/22/rams-feel-the-confidence-coming-out-of-jared-goff/

Rams “feel the confidence coming out of” Jared Goff
Posted by Josh Alper on September 22, 2017

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Earlier this week, Rams quarterback Jared Goff was asked a question that referenced his rookie season and said that he was done talking about 2016 because “last year was a whole different deal.”

Thursday night offered a lot of proof for that. Goff tore up the 49ers by going 22-of-28 for 292 yards and three touchdowns while the Rams built up a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter. The 49ers nearly came back, but the Rams held on for a 41-39 road win.

In Goff’s rookie season and for most of Jeff Fisher’s run as head coach, it would have been unthinkable for the Rams offense to get let down by the team’s defense. They avoided that fate last night, but nearly seeing it happen hammered home how quickly things have changed offensively under coach Sean McVay and a quarterback who is growing into the role.

Every week, I see confidence,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said, via ESPN.com. “Really, his feeling in the huddle is just that he’s getting comfortable, and that he feels safe, and that he feels like, ‘Hey, you know what, I can succeed in this environment, in this scenario.’ You can just feel that confidence coming out of him.”

One doesn’t want to make too much of wins over the Colts and 49ers, but an offense that was as lost as the Rams were for most of the last decade is finally showing signs of real life. That’s an exciting way to start a season, especially when the first overall pick of last year’s draft is driving the boat.
 

fearsomefour

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Dare we open our eyes next Tuesday and the Rams are now in the top 10 of the Power Rankings? It's just a ranking and there are a bunch of them, but, it would suggest even the haters who give the rankings are saying "Holy crap, who are these guys?" Much like the S.I. with Kurt Warner on the cover "Who Is This Guy?"
Zero percent chance of that.
There will be at least one team with a losing record ahead of them.
 

Rmfnlt

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Dare we open our eyes next Tuesday and the Rams are now in the top 10 of the Power Rankings?

I don't really care about them either... but I don't think they'll break the top ten.

Two reasons IMO:
1] The media is still gonna need to see more
2] They should have won that game going away. That defense (and, last night STs) is not top ten. Not yet.
 

fearsomefour

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The game was ugly on D.
Lots to nitpick as always.
But, the big takeaway from the first three weeks of the season is the Rams finally.....FINALLY have a QB. Goff is 22 and can be really, really good. That is the golden ticket in the NFL.
Gurley was the best player on the field Thursday. He got something like 33 touches. Work horse. Like many great backs he seems to get better as the game went on. I'd expect more of this depending on the opponent.
When that stretch zone play starts working it means the O line is in sync. Huge step forward. Both Brown and Havenstein had very good games.
The Rams won a crazy, close divisional road game. It's a big win no matter how maddening the D was.
The Rams put up 41 points. The potential of the O is just being scratched. Watkins and Woods had very good games. Gurley was epic. But, the really exciting part to me is Austin hasn't yet found a roll. Everett was a part time guy on Thursday. Higbee was not used much. Kupp had a quiet game. Reynolds is still working his way into the offense. So much talent on this O. What a rebuild in one offseason!! There may not be enough balls to go around for the talent on the O. McVay has enough talent to really match gameplan, player skills and position to each opponent. WRs go off one week, TEs used a lot the next, Gurley busy every week. Like night and day. Haven't seen an O turn around like that since 1999. Goff is going to be good. Very good. That is the key for the Rams going forward, hopefully for a long time.
Now, about that defense....
 

fearsomefour

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I don't really care about them either... but I don't think they'll break the top ten.

Two reasons IMO:
1] The media is still gonna need to see more
2] They should have won that game going away. That defense (and, last night STs) is not top ten. Not yet.
I already heard one talking head say how sloppy both defenses were.
Of course if the game was Big Ben and Brady or Rogers and Brees (putting up the exact same numbers both O's did last night) all the buzz today would have been about what a classic game it was.
 

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San Fran had scored a combined 12 points on 465 total yards in their first 2 games.
Last night they scored 39 and had 420+ yards
 

OldSchool

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San Fran had scored a combined 12 points on 465 total yards in their first 2 games.
Last night they scored 39 and had 420+ yards
Yeah it was a strange game. Our offense on the road just whipped a defense that held Seattle in Seattle to 1 TD and 131 yards rushing 181 yards passing. Their offense had their best game and defense their worst.
 

Merlin

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What should really happen is the media should be ashamed of itself for dumping on a rookie QB who found himself in a terrible situation. One of the worst "group think" assassinations I've witnessed in some time man by the media.

Effin retards man.