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Yeah, I know, it should have been Goff vs Wentz right? Not sure wtf I was thinking. But anyway, I wanted to discuss the other side of the ball a bit going into this game, and the key matchup is the schematic look of Goff vs Schwartz.
Schwartz has done a great job with the Eagles' defense. He's aggressive as F, and has always managed to find ways to get heat on opposing QBs and make life hard on them. Over the course of the season the Eagles have, in fact, held opposing passers to a very impressive 77.0 (3rd in the league) with an approach that relies heavily on the coverage ability of their secondary with some crazy looks like cover 0.
On the flipside of all that is the fact that obviously Schwartz is a gambler, and the cover 0 and sell-out blitzes they run at times bring a lot of risk and it cost them last week in Seattle. One would think that this approach would result in a very high sack percentage, but surprisingly they are pedestrian there (6.71%, 16th) which is a testament to their back end.
Jared, meanwhile, benefits greatly from good pass protection (4.81% sack percentage, 7th). But he has struggled a bit vs the top defenses he's faced thus far (79.2 passer rating @ Minn, 86.2 @ Jax, and 48.9 Seattle).
So obviously Goff's preparedness vs facing Schwartz's scheme is going to be an enormous deciding factor. Will he be able to burn that defense when he catches them in the right looks, and avoid too many hits with quick throws and throwaways? That is critical because that scheme--as we're well aware of from the Fish regime--feasts on QBs who aren't reading pre-snap and reacting quickly enough.
My own prognosis is that he's going to play well overall, and that he will execute McVay's plan to include burning the defense here and there. I don't think he should face any more pressure per snap than he's used to facing in this game, first off, barring things like injuries up front. Also I think the Rams are going to use a lot of play action on first down, because the Eagles won't have any choice but to honor it. I'm guessing he'll be in the 85-95 range in passer rating, and if so we have a pretty good chance to pull this game out.
Schwartz has done a great job with the Eagles' defense. He's aggressive as F, and has always managed to find ways to get heat on opposing QBs and make life hard on them. Over the course of the season the Eagles have, in fact, held opposing passers to a very impressive 77.0 (3rd in the league) with an approach that relies heavily on the coverage ability of their secondary with some crazy looks like cover 0.
On the flipside of all that is the fact that obviously Schwartz is a gambler, and the cover 0 and sell-out blitzes they run at times bring a lot of risk and it cost them last week in Seattle. One would think that this approach would result in a very high sack percentage, but surprisingly they are pedestrian there (6.71%, 16th) which is a testament to their back end.
Jared, meanwhile, benefits greatly from good pass protection (4.81% sack percentage, 7th). But he has struggled a bit vs the top defenses he's faced thus far (79.2 passer rating @ Minn, 86.2 @ Jax, and 48.9 Seattle).
So obviously Goff's preparedness vs facing Schwartz's scheme is going to be an enormous deciding factor. Will he be able to burn that defense when he catches them in the right looks, and avoid too many hits with quick throws and throwaways? That is critical because that scheme--as we're well aware of from the Fish regime--feasts on QBs who aren't reading pre-snap and reacting quickly enough.
My own prognosis is that he's going to play well overall, and that he will execute McVay's plan to include burning the defense here and there. I don't think he should face any more pressure per snap than he's used to facing in this game, first off, barring things like injuries up front. Also I think the Rams are going to use a lot of play action on first down, because the Eagles won't have any choice but to honor it. I'm guessing he'll be in the 85-95 range in passer rating, and if so we have a pretty good chance to pull this game out.
