The Goff Thread

[PARAM]

Its just funny how we pick stats like yards per game and points per game to fit a narrative. We are the 21st rated scoring offense in the NFL. 21st overall. That is the stat that matters, which puts the Rams bottom 1/3 of the league. Scoring is all that matters in football you're right, yards are a facade and can be easily inflated in garbage time. You think yards matter when we're down big to SF or MIA?

Everyone here seems to universally agree the offense is what's holding us back. How could it not be when we have the #2 rated scoring defense in the NFL. So if last year our lackluster offense was blamed on a bad o-line and lack of consistent running game, I just wonder what excuse people are using this year? It must be McVay right? When you improve the oline, running game, offensive scheme, but the offense hasn't improved where can we place the blame now?

Its frowned upon to point out that Goff is 18th in TDs, 20th in passer rating, 25th in QBR, 19th in completion %. Instead people will say hey he's 10th in yards so he must be playing great right? All this comes with a top 10 running attack, an improved o-line, and the #2 defense.

Yes we have enough weapons to be a great offense, there is no doubt. But in order to do so we need better QB play.

Goff has had some bad games. So it's all on Goff, eh? It's not a failure to pick up the blitz too? It's not a failure of running a play the defense is expecting too? It's not Cooper Kupp dropping a TD in Frisco? Yes points matter. Every game. But you only need enough to win THAT game. Just like running up yards in garbage time laying 30 on Washington or 37 on the Eagles looks good but that's 67 points for 2 wins. They scored 41 against Chicago and the Giants and got the same amount of wins. And they scored 32 in Buffalo and lost. It's not being top 10 in yards. It's not being top 10 in points. It's winning. Period. For instance Atlanta (3-6) is #13 in scoring offense. Minnesota (4-5) #15. Detroit (4-5) #16. The Chargers (2-7) are #17. The Rams are #19 (6-3).

 

[Giles]

Its just funny how we pick stats like yards per game and points per game to fit a narrative. We are the 21st rated scoring offense in the NFL. 21st overall. That is the stat that matters, which puts the Rams bottom 1/3 of the league. Scoring is all that matters in football you're right, yards are a facade and can be easily inflated in garbage time. You think yards matter when we're down big to SF or MIA?

Everyone here seems to universally agree the offense is what's holding us back. How could it not be when we have the #2 rated scoring defense in the NFL. So if last year our lackluster offense was blamed on a bad o-line and lack of consistent running game, I just wonder what excuse people are using this year? It must be McVay right? When you improve the oline, running game, offensive scheme, but the offense hasn't improved where can we place the blame now?

Its frowned upon to point out that Goff is 18th in TDs, 20th in passer rating, 25th in QBR, 19th in completion %. Instead people will say hey he's 10th in yards so he must be playing great right? All this comes with a top 10 running attack, an improved o-line, and the #2 defense.

Yes we have enough weapons to be a great offense, there is no doubt. But in order to do so we need better QB play.

You just did the exact same thing. The only stat that matters is wins. Is goff winning?

 

[MachS]

A lot of those stats is due to McVay going conservative in the 4th quarter and also using running backs to score TDs. We do not have a WR that can get TDs for us inside the 5 yard line other than maybe Kupp and Higbee.

A lot of those stats are because McVay goes conservative in the 4th? Uh what? That's why were the 21st rated offense? Completion %, passer rating, QBR? You're blaming all those on McVay? Saying Goff doesnt have WRs to get us TDs inside the 5 is a load of BS man. Kupp had 6 TDs in 8 games in 2017. He had 10TDs in 2018. An argument could be made he's one of the best 3rd down and red zone WR options in the entire NFL. Higbee and Everett are both matchup nightmares in the redzone. Reynolds is 6'3". How many teams in the NFL would KILL for our receiving threats. People need to stop blaming this shit on McVay its laughable..he's a top 5 playcaller and one of the best offensive minds in the NFL.

Goff has had some bad games. So it's all on Goff, eh? It's not a failure to pick up the blitz too? It's not a failure of running a play the defense is expecting too?

I just gave our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league. Last year people blamed the oline and running game, both which are vastly better this year. We have the 8th ranked rushing offense btw. So I'm curious why YOU think the offense is an issue again this year? Are you blaming it on McVay too? If you think all the blitzes that got to Goff are on the oline, then maybe you dont understand what responsibilities a QB has at the line of scrimmage. Goff has an ability to audible at the line, change protection, etc. to get into a better play. He's shown for years he has trouble identifying the blitz pre-snap a lot, and has trouble feeling the blitz coming in disguised looks. So a failure to pick up the blitz cannot be put solely on the o-lines shoulders. They are playing great this year. So why is the offense not performing well again this year with an improved oline and running game?

You just did the exact same thing. The only stat that matters is wins. Is goff winning?

Did I though? Or did I give our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league? And instead of give 1 stat for Goff, which was Yards Per Game, which means literally nothing.... I gave four different categories which typically define how well a QB is playing. TDs or TD/Int ratio, completion percentage, passer rating, QBR...all of which are bottom 1/2 of the NFL. Feel free to provide some other stats if you have a different opinion. But if you watch the film for the entire season outside of a few games like last week, he hasn't played consistently great football since late 2018. So why do you think the offense is struggling again in 2020 with an improved o-line and 8th rated rushing attack? I'm curious why you think we're struggling if it's not QB play.

 

[TexasRam]

PPG is not the stat that matters, it’s wins.

When your defense is playing at an elite level the offense can play a more conservative game and that is exactly what we have been doing.

Look at the Seattle or Chicago game lots of safe runs called in Q4 to burn clock. A team like Seattle
With a poor defense has to keep quickly trying to score all game to keep up.

All stats have a context they need to be correctly viewed in.

 

[Tano]

A lot of those stats are because McVay goes conservative in the 4th? Uh what? That's why were the 21st rated offense? Completion %, passer rating, QBR? You're blaming all those on McVay? Saying Goff doesnt have WRs to get us TDs inside the 5 is a load of BS man. Kupp had 6 TDs in 8 games in 2017. He had 10TDs in 2018. An argument could be made he's one of the best 3rd down and red zone WR options in the entire NFL. Higbee and Everett are both matchup nightmares in the redzone. Reynolds is 6'3". How many teams in the NFL would KILL for our receiving threats. People need to stop blaming this shit on McVay its laughable..he's a top 5 playcaller and one of the best offensive minds in the NFL.



I just gave our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league. Last year people blamed the oline and running game, both which are vastly better this year. We have the 8th ranked rushing offense btw. So I'm curious why YOU think the offense is an issue again this year? Are you blaming it on McVay too? If you think all the blitzes that got to Goff are on the oline, then maybe you dont understand what responsibilities a QB has at the line of scrimmage. Goff has an ability to audible at the line, change protection, etc. to get into a better play. He's shown for years he has trouble identifying the blitz pre-snap a lot, and has trouble feeling the blitz coming in disguised looks. So a failure to pick up the blitz cannot be put solely on the o-lines shoulders. They are playing great this year. So why is the offense not performing well again this year with an improved oline and running game?



Did I though? Or did I give our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league? And instead of give 1 stat for Goff, which was Yards Per Game, which means literally nothing.... I gave four different categories which typically define how well a QB is playing. TDs or TD/Int ratio, completion percentage, passer rating, QBR...all of which are bottom 1/2 of the NFL. Feel free to provide some other stats if you have a different opinion. But if you watch the film for the entire season outside of a few games like last week, he hasn't played consistently great football since late 2018. So why do you think the offense is struggling again in 2020 with an improved o-line and 8th rated rushing attack? I'm curious why you think we're struggling if it's not QB play.

I have seen time after time that once the Rams get inside the 5, the Rams will run it in. Very seldom do they get stopped.

Is that on Goff? Last game, McVay ran twice inside the 10 on the first series and then threw Goff into a 3rd and 4 which is fairly difficult to convert. I have seen teams not convert on 3rd and 4 many times.

Goff is a winner who makes dumb mistakes in the first half. Almost every game that Goff has a bad game, it is the first half and then the second half he starts to make some great plays to try to bring the team back.

Yes I would like Goff to be better in the first half but I think a lot of that is on McVays game plan which he doesn't adjust until the second half.

Miami game - Perfect Example

Goff is terrible in the first half. Blitzes galore and Goff gets crushed. He isn't the best at picking up blitzes in his reads. Okay he sucks at it for the most part. But guess what, don't put Goff in that situation. Use WR or Halfback screens.

McVay did not do ONE screen in the first 3 quarters against Miami when they got their huge lead.

In the 4th quarter, they did 3 WR screens against the Cover 0 blitz and gained over 8 - 15 yards each time. Miami had to back out of their cover 0 blitz after that and Goff tore them apart.

Against Seattle, on quite a few of the blitzes, screens were set up and each got 5 yards or more.

I blame McVay on not using Goffs strengths in some games in the first half and putting Goff in bad situations until the second half.

Every loss this year, McVay started using Goffs strengths in the second half and we almost came back to win each game.

I am hoping that the rest of the year. McVay will use Goff's strengths.

The only reason we didn't score 30 against Seattle was due to

1) a dropped pass by Reynolds that would have put the Rams in good field position instead of 2nd and long inside their 30
2) a PERFECT pass by Goff that Higbee slowed down on that would have been a great TD pass if he kept running
3) McVay went ultra conservative on the last drive since they were up by 10 and their defense was playing great ball.

Let's go to scoring

1) Dallas - first game - everybody was still testing things out
2) Philadelphia - more than 30 points
3) Buffalo - more than 30 points
4) NY Giants - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
5) Washington - more than 30 points
6) San Francisco - dropped TD pass by Kupp and possibly more points after that
7) Chicago - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
8) Miami - horrible play in the first half but a dropped 3rd down by Everett when Goff was hotter than shit in 4th qtr
9) Seattle - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative after Higbee slowed down on a perfect potential TD pass

So 3 out of 9 games McVay went ultra conservative

Oh and McVay went ultra conservative in the Philadelphia and Washington games in the 4th qtr too when we had a big lead

Stats mean shit and QBR even more so.

I look at wins and how well he plays when we are behind. Only better QBs that I would take right now is Wilson and Mahomes.

Big Ben is in his last hurrah
Jackson has been found out
Murray will be found out eventually

 

[PARAM]

I just gave our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league. Last year people blamed the oline and running game, both which are vastly better this year. We have the 8th ranked rushing offense btw. So I'm curious why YOU think the offense is an issue again this year? Are you blaming it on McVay too? If you think all the blitzes that got to Goff are on the oline, then maybe you dont understand what responsibilities a QB has at the line of scrimmage. Goff has an ability to audible at the line, change protection, etc. to get into a better play. He's shown for years he has trouble identifying the blitz pre-snap a lot, and has trouble feeling the blitz coming in disguised looks. So a failure to pick up the blitz cannot be put solely on the o-lines shoulders. They are playing great this year. So why is the offense not performing well again this year with an improved oline and running game?

First off, how are we the "21st overall offense" in the NFL? There are two ways most people measure offense. Yards and points. If you go by yards, we are #7. If you go by points, we are #18, tied with Cleveland. How did you arrive at 21?

I think the offense is an issue because we're not quite right in the red zone. There were games we weren't right against the blitz. There were games McVay had brain farts. And there were games where we dropped passes, missed open receivers and such. Goff deserves his share of the blame. I am quite familiar with the QB being responsible for protections. I'm also quite familiar with defensive disguises. And I'm sure every QB can be confused from time to time. You make it sound like there's a sure fire way to realize when what you see is what you get and when you're going to get something other than what you see. If only that were true. I'm certainly not putting it all on the O line's shoulders. They make mistakes too but not every blitz. Sometimes it's Goff. Sometimes it's them. Sometimes it's the RB or pulling WR or TE. We've seen that a few times this year. Henderson missed the blitzer in Miami on the fumble. The O line is playing real well. Would I call it "great". No. But better than last year.

But if you believe, as you said "the only thing we need is better QB play" (or) "what we need is better QB play", then you're putting it ALL on Goff and that's just not true IMHO.

 

[Tano]

First off, how are we the "21st overall offense" in the NFL? There are two ways most people measure offense. Yards and points. If you go by yards, we are #7. If you go by points, we are #18, tied with Cleveland. How did you arrive at 21?

He is going by total points not points per game.

We are 21st in total points but forgets that some teams have played 10 games and not 9 games like the Rams

 

[PARAM]

He is going by total points not points per game.

We are 21st in total points but forgets that some teams have played 10 games and not 9 games like the Rams

I figured. Well penalize us because we already had our bye!! The offense is scoring 24 PPG. The defense is allowing 16.4 offensive points per game. That's 7.6 advantage and why we are 6-3 and not 3-6. And if it weren't for 4 missed FGs and 3 unsuccessful PAT's in 9 games, we'd be at 25.7 PPG and #16 in the NFL. Might have even made a difference in the win column.

 

[Tano]

I figured. Well penalize us because we already had our bye!! The offense is scoring 24 PPG. The defense is allowing 16.4 offensive points per game. That's 7.6 advantage and why we are 6-3 and not 3-6

What? We should score more points than teams that have played 1 more game than us anyway.

 

[Tano]

From my recall, I have also found that teams that have a great defense frequently don't score as many points as other teams because they don't need to. I could be wrong on that but I see a lot of grind it out wins from teams that have great defenses.

Why chance a turnover even if you have a great QB. Just run the ball down their throat with occasional passes from the QB.

Dallas Minnesota Pittsburgh& Miami were like that in the 70s as much as I hate them. I know - different times but they were some great defenses on those teams and they rarely took chances when they had a lead. And all 4 of them had Hall of Fame QBs.

 

[PARAM]

Rams Role reversal: Sean McVay crafting offense to complement elite defense

Eric D. Williams

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Sean McVay continues to show his versatility as an offensive play caller this season.

The Los Angeles Rams head coach engineered one of the highest scoring offenses in the NFL two years ago in leading his team to the Super Bowl.

But with an aging Todd Gurley -- the engine of that offense -- moving on to the Atlanta Falcons during the offseason, McVay had to somewhat alter what he’s done schematically to fit the personnel still left on the roster, along with the other side of the football led by new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley that has emerged as one of the best in the league.

With that in mind, McVay morphed his offense from a high-flying act to more of a ball-control scheme that eats up clock and takes shots when available. Yes, McVay would like to score more than the 24 points game the Rams average, a career-low for his offense in the NFL.

However, when your defense is allowing just 18.7 points a contest, leaning on the run game, eating up clock and taking care of the football is a good blueprint for winning football.

It’s the way McVay’s NFC West division rival Pete Carroll won a Super Bowl after the 2013 regular season, leaning on an elite defense and Marshawn Lynch.

The Rams are averaging 134 rushing yards a contest, No. 8 in the NFL. McVay’s offense runs it 46.6 percent of the time this season vs. 44.7 percent of the time during the team’s Super Bowl run. And they are holding the football an average time of 31:47 a game, No. 5 in the NFL.

That said, McVay would like to see his offense put the ball in the end zone a few more times a game.

“I want to just see us consistently sustain (offense) throughout,” McVay said, after his team’s 23-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks last week “It is about winning the football game. I’m never going to take that for granted, but I do think that we can continue to produce at a level that was in alignment with how we started that all through the four quarters of the game.”

Where the Rams have to get better is creating explosive plays and scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

This season, the Rams have 32 passing plays of 20-plus yards. During the team’s Super Bowl season, the Rams had 69 passing plays of 20-plus yards, No. 3 in the NFL.

The Rams are currently No. 16 in the NFL in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns inside the 20-yard line a little over 60 percent of the time, No. 16 in the league.

“It’s just reps,” Rams quarterback Jared Goff said. “It’s just making sure everything keeps clicking. I think we’re really close to answer your question. I think it’s extremely close.

“Today (Sunday) was a good day to see that. Run game, pass game, play action game, screen game, everything was kind of working. We’re just that close on a handful of those plays that would have really opened it up. And again, you’re complaining about a seven-point win -- I don’t want to sound like that. I’m happy about the win, but we can keep pushing to be better and we will.”

https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/news/la...on-running-the-football-to-complement-defense

 

[MachS]

Here is a deeper dive into advanced passing stats vs 2018 -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2020/passing_advanced.htm


Goff in 2020 vs 2018:

-IAY/PA (Intended air yards per pass attempt, average depth of target whether completed or not)
In 2020 - 23rd in the NFL at 7.2yrds
In 2018 - 10th in the NFL at 8.7yrds
-CAY/Cmp (Completed air yards per completion-yards the ball traveled in the air passed the line of scrimmage prior to completion)
In 2020 - 26th in the NFL at 5.4yrds
in 2018 - 4th in the NFL at 7.0yrds

^^ what do these two advanced air yard stats tell us? His average depth of target is among the lowest in the NFL. Lots of screens, short passes, short crossing routes... Not throwing the ball down the field enough for explosive plays in the passing game. Look at those numbers compared to his last good season in 2018.

-Bad throw % (percentage of poor throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 8th best in the NFL , very solid only 14.6%
In 2018 - 23rd best in the NFL, at 17.7%
-On target % (percentage of on-target throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 13th in the NFL here, above average at 77.9
In 2018 - stats not available
-Drop% (percentage of passes dropped per attempt)
In 2020 - 19th in the NFL, 4.9% of passes dropped
In 2018 - #1 in the NFL with only 2.5% of passes dropped

^^what do these advanced accuracy stats tell us? He is pretty accurate when throwing the ball. This has always been the case with Goff and his arm talent. There have been twice as many passes dropped this year vs 2018, and there have big some big drops this year for sure. But how would the bad throw% numbers change when his average completed depth of target increases beyond 5.4yards? Safe to assume they go down if he was throwing the ball down the field more, just like in 2018. But overall, the accuracy stats seem solid.

-Pressure % ( Times QB is pressured by dropback)
In 2020 - #4th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on only 15.7% of dropbacks
In 2018 - #11th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on 21.7% of dropbacks
-Blitzes (Times QB has been blitzed)
In 2020 - #7th highest in the NFL at 113 times
In 2018 - #10th highest in the NFL at 151 times
-Pocket Time (Avg time QB has in pocket between snap and throwing the ball or pressure collapses)
In 2020 - #9 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.5seconds per snap
In 2018 - #1 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap
-Sacked (# of times QB sacked)
In 2020 - 18th in the NFL in sacked taken at 13scks
In 2018 - 14th in the NFL at sacks taken at 33 scks

^^what do these advanced pressure stats tell us? In 2020 Goff has been pressured much less than he was in 2018. He's been pressured the 4th least amount of all QBs this season, but he's been blitzed the 7th highest in the NFL. Think about that, 7th highest amount of blitzes but the 30th QB in amount of pressure taken. That tells me something about the oline and how McVay has changed his scheme to keep Goff away from pressure. How about pocket time? #9 in the NFL in time given in the pocket, and only 1/10th of a second less than he had in 2018 when he had the most pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap. This has lead to less sacks this year through 10 weeks. He has only been sacked 13 times this year through 10 weeks where he took 33 in 2018.

So he's been pressured less this year, has taken less sacks, has about the same time in the pocket to throw. To me no one can blame his play on the oline or the pressure after looking at this. His accuracy is solid this year but he has had to battle through more drops than in 2018. However his average depth of target is much less and shows he's not throwing the ball down the field nearly as much. To me given the way the running game has played (8th rated rushing attack in the NFL) and clearly above shows how well the oline and McVay are playing to keep Goff away from pressure, he should be playing much better.

 

[TexasRam]

I have seen time after time that once the Rams get inside the 5, the Rams will run it in. Very seldom do they get stopped.

Is that on Goff? Last game, McVay ran twice inside the 10 on the first series and then threw Goff into a 3rd and 4 which is fairly difficult to convert. I have seen teams not convert on 3rd and 4 many times.

Goff is a winner who makes dumb mistakes in the first half. Almost every game that Goff has a bad game, it is the first half and then the second half he starts to make some great plays to try to bring the team back.

Yes I would like Goff to be better in the first half but I think a lot of that is on McVays game plan which he doesn't adjust until the second half.

Miami game - Perfect Example

Goff is terrible in the first half. Blitzes galore and Goff gets crushed. He isn't the best at picking up blitzes in his reads. Okay he sucks at it for the most part. But guess what, don't put Goff in that situation. Use WR or Halfback screens.

McVay did not do ONE screen in the first 3 quarters against Miami when they got their huge lead.

In the 4th quarter, they did 3 WR screens against the Cover 0 blitz and gained over 8 - 15 yards each time. Miami had to back out of their cover 0 blitz after that and Goff tore them apart.

Against Seattle, on quite a few of the blitzes, screens were set up and each got 5 yards or more.

I blame McVay on not using Goffs strengths in some games in the first half and putting Goff in bad situations until the second half.

Every loss this year, McVay started using Goffs strengths in the second half and we almost came back to win each game.

I am hoping that the rest of the year. McVay will use Goff's strengths.

The only reason we didn't score 30 against Seattle was due to

1) a dropped pass by Reynolds that would have put the Rams in good field position instead of 2nd and long inside their 30
2) a PERFECT pass by Goff that Higbee slowed down on that would have been a great TD pass if he kept running
3) McVay went ultra conservative on the last drive since they were up by 10 and their defense was playing great ball.

Let's go to scoring

1) Dallas - first game - everybody was still testing things out
2) Philadelphia - more than 30 points
3) Buffalo - more than 30 points
4) NY Giants - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
5) Washington - more than 30 points
6) San Francisco - dropped TD pass by Kupp and possibly more points after that
7) Chicago - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
8) Miami - horrible play in the first half but a dropped 3rd down by Everett when Goff was hotter than shit in 4th qtr
9) Seattle - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative after Higbee slowed down on a perfect potential TD pass

So 3 out of 9 games McVay went ultra conservative

Oh and McVay went ultra conservative in the Philadelphia and Washington games in the 4th qtr too when we had a big lead

Stats mean shit and QBR even more so.

I look at wins and how well he plays when we are behind. Only better QBs that I would take right now is Wilson and Mahomes.

Big Ben is in his last hurrah
Jackson has been found out
Murray will be found out eventually

Wilson rode the backs of the #1 defense of their decade. The legion of boom averaged 14.4 ppg given up. He still managed to lose a Super Bowl that was gifted by his defense. He has never made a championship without that defense.

Goff carried a top offense team to a super bowl in his 2nd full year.

This year:
Wilson 10 int
Goff 6 int

Goff 24 points Wilson 13 in 3 quarters of the most important game of the season.

See, Stats can be looked at several ways and people can frame them to support their case.

But what matters is wins.

 

[Tano]

Here is a deeper dive into advanced passing stats vs 2018 -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2020/passing_advanced.htm


Goff in 2020 vs 2018:

-IAY/PA (Intended air yards per pass attempt, average depth of target whether completed or not)
In 2020 - 23rd in the NFL at 7.2yrds
In 2018 - 10th in the NFL at 8.7yrds
-CAY/Cmp (Completed air yards per completion-yards the ball traveled in the air passed the line of scrimmage prior to completion)
In 2020 - 26th in the NFL at 5.4yrds
in 2018 - 4th in the NFL at 7.0yrds

^^ what do these two advanced air yard stats tell us? His average depth of target is among the lowest in the NFL. Lots of screens, short passes, short crossing routes... Not throwing the ball down the field enough for explosive plays in the passing game. Look at those numbers compared to his last good season in 2018.

-Bad throw % (percentage of poor throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 8th best in the NFL , very solid only 14.6%
In 2018 - 23rd best in the NFL, at 17.7%
-On target % (percentage of on-target throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 13th in the NFL here, above average at 77.9
In 2018 - stats not available
-Drop% (percentage of passes dropped per attempt)
In 2020 - 19th in the NFL, 4.9% of passes dropped
In 2018 - #1 in the NFL with only 2.5% of passes dropped

^^what do these advanced accuracy stats tell us? He is pretty accurate when throwing the ball. This has always been the case with Goff and his arm talent. There have been twice as many passes dropped this year vs 2018, and there have big some big drops this year for sure. But how would the bad throw% numbers change when his average completed depth of target increases beyond 5.4yards? Safe to assume they go down if he was throwing the ball down the field more, just like in 2018. But overall, the accuracy stats seem solid.

-Pressure % ( Times QB is pressured by dropback)
In 2020 - #4th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on only 15.7% of dropbacks
In 2018 - #11th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on 21.7% of dropbacks
-Blitzes (Times QB has been blitzed)
In 2020 - #7th highest in the NFL at 113 times
In 2018 - #10th highest in the NFL at 151 times
-Pocket Time (Avg time QB has in pocket between snap and throwing the ball or pressure collapses)
In 2020 - #9 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.5seconds per snap
In 2018 - #1 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap
-Sacked (# of times QB sacked)
In 2020 - 18th in the NFL in sacked taken at 13scks
In 2018 - 14th in the NFL at sacks taken at 33 scks

^^what do these advanced pressure stats tell us? In 2020 Goff has been pressured much less than he was in 2018. He's been pressured the 4th least amount of all QBs this season, but he's been blitzed the 7th highest in the NFL. Think about that, 7th highest amount of blitzes but the 30th QB in amount of pressure taken. That tells me something about the oline and how McVay has changed his scheme to keep Goff away from pressure. How about pocket time? #9 in the NFL in time given in the pocket, and only 1/10th of a second less than he had in 2018 when he had the most pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap. This has lead to less sacks this year through 10 weeks. He has only been sacked 13 times this year through 10 weeks where he took 33 in 2018.

So he's been pressured less this year, has taken less sacks, has about the same time in the pocket to throw. To me no one can blame his play on the oline or the pressure after looking at this. His accuracy is solid this year but he has had to battle through more drops than in 2018. However his average depth of target is much less and shows he's not throwing the ball down the field nearly as much. To me given the way the running game has played (8th rated rushing attack in the NFL) and clearly above shows how well the oline and McVay are playing to keep Goff away from pressure, he should be playing much better.

You could say that but I think with the way our defense is playing, Mcvay has changed his play calling to a short time consuming game where only 20 points a game will win us a game versus 30 necessary in 2018 to win games.

There were quite a few high scoring games against our defense in 2018. Not many in 2020.

Plus we had Cooks who spread out the defenses quite a bit. We don't have that speedster in our arsenal this year so McVay has probably changed the game plan as well to account for that.

Don't get me wrong - I would like to see Goff play better but I do not believe he is playing as poorly as you make him out to be.

 

[MachS]

Last game, McVay ran twice inside the 10 on the first series and then threw Goff into a 3rd and 4 which is fairly difficult to convert. I have seen teams not convert on 3rd and 4 many times.

Goff is terrible in the first half. Blitzes galore and Goff gets crushed. He isn't the best at picking up blitzes in his reads. Okay he sucks at it for the most part. But guess what, don't put Goff in that situation. Use WR or Halfback screens.

McVay did not do ONE screen in the first 3 quarters against Miami when they got their huge lead.

In the 4th quarter, they did 3 WR screens against the Cover 0 blitz and gained over 8 - 15 yards each time. Miami had to back out of their cover 0 blitz after that and Goff tore them apart.

Against Seattle, on quite a few of the blitzes, screens were set up and each got 5 yards or more.

I blame McVay on not using Goffs strengths in some games in the first half and putting Goff in bad situations until the second half.

Every loss this year, McVay started using Goffs strengths in the second half and we almost came back to win each game.

I am hoping that the rest of the year. McVay will use Goff's strengths.

The only reason we didn't score 30 against Seattle was due to

1) a dropped pass by Reynolds that would have put the Rams in good field position instead of 2nd and long inside their 30
2) a PERFECT pass by Goff that Higbee slowed down on that would have been a great TD pass if he kept running
3) McVay went ultra conservative on the last drive since they were up by 10 and their defense was playing great ball.

Let's go to scoring

1) Dallas - first game - everybody was still testing things out
2) Philadelphia - more than 30 points
3) Buffalo - more than 30 points
4) NY Giants - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
5) Washington - more than 30 points
6) San Francisco - dropped TD pass by Kupp and possibly more points after that
7) Chicago - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative in the second half
8) Miami - horrible play in the first half but a dropped 3rd down by Everett when Goff was hotter than shit in 4th qtr
9) Seattle - Defense did their job and McVay went ultra conservative after Higbee slowed down on a perfect potential TD pass

So 3 out of 9 games McVay went ultra conservative

Oh and McVay went ultra conservative in the Philadelphia and Washington games in the 4th qtr too when we had a big lead

Stats mean shit and QBR even more so.

I look at wins and how well he plays when we are behind. Only better QBs that I would take right now is Wilson and Mahomes.

Big Ben is in his last hurrah
Jackson has been found out
Murray will be found out eventually

Dude 3rd and 4 is difficult to convert? How do I take you serious after you say something like that? That is not difficult its average, and one Goff needs to make more often than not when you have McVay calling plays for you. Blaming McVay for MIA is crazy when he has built in hot routes into his concepts that Goff didnt see. That's McVays fault for "putting him in that situation?" You mean giving him an answer with a wide open WR he doesn't see? Goff was horrible against Miami man dont try to defend that game at all.

Like I said other people have provided photo stills of the all-22 that show the same thing. I posted our team offensive stats, Goffs individual stats, and advanced stats that all show he could be playing better.

So again I'll ask, why do you think the offense is struggling this year?? We have the 2nd rated defense, the 8th rated rushing attack, and the oline is protecting excellently. Based on your answer, you're sticking with its all on McVay right?

 

[TexasRam]

Here is a deeper dive into advanced passing stats vs 2018 -- https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2020/passing_advanced.htm


Goff in 2020 vs 2018:

-IAY/PA (Intended air yards per pass attempt, average depth of target whether completed or not)
In 2020 - 23rd in the NFL at 7.2yrds
In 2018 - 10th in the NFL at 8.7yrds
-CAY/Cmp (Completed air yards per completion-yards the ball traveled in the air passed the line of scrimmage prior to completion)
In 2020 - 26th in the NFL at 5.4yrds
in 2018 - 4th in the NFL at 7.0yrds

^^ what do these two advanced air yard stats tell us? His average depth of target is among the lowest in the NFL. Lots of screens, short passes, short crossing routes... Not throwing the ball down the field enough for explosive plays in the passing game. Look at those numbers compared to his last good season in 2018.

-Bad throw % (percentage of poor throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 8th best in the NFL , very solid only 14.6%
In 2018 - 23rd best in the NFL, at 17.7%
-On target % (percentage of on-target throws per pass attempt, excluding throwaways and spikes)
In 2020 - 13th in the NFL here, above average at 77.9
In 2018 - stats not available
-Drop% (percentage of passes dropped per attempt)
In 2020 - 19th in the NFL, 4.9% of passes dropped
In 2018 - #1 in the NFL with only 2.5% of passes dropped

^^what do these advanced accuracy stats tell us? He is pretty accurate when throwing the ball. This has always been the case with Goff and his arm talent. There have been twice as many passes dropped this year vs 2018, and there have big some big drops this year for sure. But how would the bad throw% numbers change when his average completed depth of target increases beyond 5.4yards? Safe to assume they go down if he was throwing the ball down the field more, just like in 2018. But overall, the accuracy stats seem solid.

-Pressure % ( Times QB is pressured by dropback)
In 2020 - #4th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on only 15.7% of dropbacks
In 2018 - #11th best pressure % in the NFL, pressured on 21.7% of dropbacks
-Blitzes (Times QB has been blitzed)
In 2020 - #7th highest in the NFL at 113 times
In 2018 - #10th highest in the NFL at 151 times
-Pocket Time (Avg time QB has in pocket between snap and throwing the ball or pressure collapses)
In 2020 - #9 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.5seconds per snap
In 2018 - #1 rated pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap
-Sacked (# of times QB sacked)
In 2020 - 18th in the NFL in sacked taken at 13scks
In 2018 - 14th in the NFL at sacks taken at 33 scks

^^what do these advanced pressure stats tell us? In 2020 Goff has been pressured much less than he was in 2018. He's been pressured the 4th least amount of all QBs this season, but he's been blitzed the 7th highest in the NFL. Think about that, 7th highest amount of blitzes but the 30th QB in amount of pressure taken. That tells me something about the oline and how McVay has changed his scheme to keep Goff away from pressure. How about pocket time? #9 in the NFL in time given in the pocket, and only 1/10th of a second less than he had in 2018 when he had the most pocket time in the NFL at 2.6 seconds per snap. This has lead to less sacks this year through 10 weeks. He has only been sacked 13 times this year through 10 weeks where he took 33 in 2018.

So he's been pressured less this year, has taken less sacks, has about the same time in the pocket to throw. To me no one can blame his play on the oline or the pressure after looking at this. His accuracy is solid this year but he has had to battle through more drops than in 2018. However his average depth of target is much less and shows he's not throwing the ball down the field nearly as much. To me given the way the running game has played (8th rated rushing attack in the NFL) and clearly above shows how well the oline and McVay are playing to keep Goff away from pressure, he should be playing much better.

Do those stats account for defensive personnel faced, defensive scheme deployed, play called by the coach, WR separation, offensive personnel?

Tom Brady 24 TD in ‘06
Tom Brady 50 TD in ‘07

Tom Brady got Randy Moss.

QB Stats are funny things when you try to make arguments with them.

This isn’t Golf or bowling bro. It’s a team game affected by numerous variables.

 

[Tano]

Dude 3rd and 4 is difficult to convert? How do I take you serious after you say something like that? That is not difficult its average, and one Goff needs to make more often than not when you have McVay calling plays for you. Blaming McVay for MIA is crazy when he has built in hot routes into his concepts that Goff didnt see. That's McVays fault for "putting him in that situation?" You mean giving him an answer with a wide open WR he doesn't see? Goff was horrible against Miami man dont try to defend that game at all.

Like I said other people have provided photo stills of the all-22 that show the same thing. I posted our team offensive stats, Goffs individual stats, and advanced stats that all show he could be playing better.

So again I'll ask, why do you think the offense is struggling this year?? We have the 2nd rated defense, the 8th rated rushing attack, and the oline is protecting excellently. Based on your answer, you're sticking with its all on McVay right?

3rd and 4 inside the 5 is difficult to convert. I see teams have to kick field goals all the time with that situation.

As to Miami, I was yelling for WR screens. They would have worked all day against a Cover 0 blitz. And they did once they went to them in the 4th quarter.

The hot reads might have been there and Goff definitely held onto the ball too long, but I still blame a lot of that game on McVay for putting Goff in a 5 receiver set against a 7 man blitz and having to go to his hot read. WR screens all game against that defense.

Miami didn't stop ONE NOT ONE WR screen once McVay went to them in the 4th quarter.

They stopped doing the Cover 0 blitz after the 3rd WR screen because it wasn't working. Watch Goff tear them apart in the 4th qtr.

Miami couldn't stop him.

So yeah I am blaming McVay for not using a simple play to counteract the Cover 0 blitz that Miami was playing. I am talking about 6 or 7 guys at the line scrimmage with 4 or 5 guys lined up 7 yards back. Miami ran that play about 25% of the time that I saw and they destroyed Goff in the first half with that exact play.

 

[MachS]

Wilson rode the backs of the #1 defense of their decade. The legion of boom averaged 14.4 ppg given up. He still managed to lose a Super Bowl that was gifted by his defense. He has never made a championship without that defense.

Goff carried a top offense team to a super bowl in his 2nd full year.

This year:
Wilson 10 int
Goff 6 int

Goff 24 points Wilson 13 in 3 quarters of the most important game of the season.

See, Stats can be looked at several ways and people can frame them to support their case.

But what matters is wins.

And our defense held the GOAT to 3 points through 3 1/2 quarters in he Super Bowl. What did Goff do in that game to win it? How did Russel play against that same coach and defense? Russel put up 250yrds 2TDs and rushed for another 40yrds. If Carroll runs Marshawn on the 1 yard line they win that game. But regardless I'm not trying to get into comparing these two because I think its silly, and I would guess every single GM in the NFL would take Wilson over Goff, the only people that deny that are Rams fans.

My point is regarding Goff this year vs last year. Last year all the excuses were put on the oline and the running game with Gurley right? This year those excuses cannot be made any more. Add to the fact we have improved both those areas, Goff now has the best defense he's ever had to get take always and help with field position. So why do you think the offense isn't performing up to par this season?

 

[Giles]

A lot of those stats are because McVay goes conservative in the 4th? Uh what? That's why were the 21st rated offense? Completion %, passer rating, QBR? You're blaming all those on McVay? Saying Goff doesnt have WRs to get us TDs inside the 5 is a load of BS man. Kupp had 6 TDs in 8 games in 2017. He had 10TDs in 2018. An argument could be made he's one of the best 3rd down and red zone WR options in the entire NFL. Higbee and Everett are both matchup nightmares in the redzone. Reynolds is 6'3". How many teams in the NFL would KILL for our receiving threats. People need to stop blaming this shit on McVay its laughable..he's a top 5 playcaller and one of the best offensive minds in the NFL.



I just gave our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league. Last year people blamed the oline and running game, both which are vastly better this year. We have the 8th ranked rushing offense btw. So I'm curious why YOU think the offense is an issue again this year? Are you blaming it on McVay too? If you think all the blitzes that got to Goff are on the oline, then maybe you dont understand what responsibilities a QB has at the line of scrimmage. Goff has an ability to audible at the line, change protection, etc. to get into a better play. He's shown for years he has trouble identifying the blitz pre-snap a lot, and has trouble feeling the blitz coming in disguised looks. So a failure to pick up the blitz cannot be put solely on the o-lines shoulders. They are playing great this year. So why is the offense not performing well again this year with an improved oline and running game?



Did I though? Or did I give our overall offensive ranking which is 21st in the league? And instead of give 1 stat for Goff, which was Yards Per Game, which means literally nothing.... I gave four different categories which typically define how well a QB is playing. TDs or TD/Int ratio, completion percentage, passer rating, QBR...all of which are bottom 1/2 of the NFL. Feel free to provide some other stats if you have a different opinion. But if you watch the film for the entire season outside of a few games like last week, he hasn't played consistently great football since late 2018. So why do you think the offense is struggling again in 2020 with an improved o-line and 8th rated rushing attack? I'm curious why you think we're struggling if it's not QB play.

Not even gonna lie I didn't read anything you posted because you already came to the conclusion it's on all goff so what's the point of having a discussion with you? Its obvious you dont like goff and never did.

 

[MachS]

As to Miami, I was yelling for WR screens. They would have worked all day against a Cover 0 blitz. And they did once they went to them in the 4th quarter.

If we are in a 5 wide set, and the defense in showing blitz with 6 defenders on the line of scrimmage. Do you really think Goff cant audible to a quick pass outside or to a screen? You think that call has to come from McVay??? What you should be asking yourself is why didnt Goff audible to a screen. Why did he think he would have protection on that play when they were showing zero blitz? And if he wanted to be aggressive, and not audible and keep the original play on, why would he not motion a TE or RB back into the backfield to give himself an extra blocker? Those are the questions you should be asking. And the answer is, he thought he had time. He thought he could get that play off as is, which shows his lack of understanding of the situation and how to handle pressure.