Coming into Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, per Sports Info Solutions, Rams quarterback Jared Goff had faced Cover-0 defenses — a high-blitz scheme with no deep safeties — on just three of his dropbacks. On those three dropbacks, Goff attempted two passes and completed one — to 49ers cornerback Jason Verrett in Week 6, on a red zone situation that obviously calls for no deep safety.
So, Cover-0 is not something Goff had seen a lot this season. But in 2019, he completed 7 of 16 passes for 71 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions against Cover-0. That said, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer decided to throw more of it right at Goff, and it turned out beautifully — in the Dolphins’ 28-17 win, Goff completed just 35 of 61 passes for 355 yards, one touchdown in garbage time, two back-breaking interceptions, and two lost fumbles — one of which was returned for a touchdown. In the first half, when Miami brought most of its pressure, Goff completed 15 of 32 passes for 136 yards, no touchdowns, both of those picks, and a passer rating of 32.8.
As edge-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, who caused the fumble that led to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel’s 78-yard return, said, “The key to this game was attack Jared Goff.”
.@AndrewVanGinkel WENT ALL THE WAY 😳
📺 @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/BAlkcbynLZ
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) November 1, 2020
After the game, Rams head coach Sean McVay talked about how difficult it was to handle what the Dolphins were bringing — the pressures that forced McVay out of his preferred empty formations in certain instances, and took Goff out of his ability to cut the field in half with boot-action.
“They were bringing zero pressures,” McVay said. “We had some answer. We didn’t execute them, and ultimately, the answers were not good enough on my part. That falls on me… we were not in alignment, and the communication wasn’t on par with what the expectations were with how we execute those plays…. those situations never allowed us to get into rhythm.”
The first interception came out of zero pressure — Miami brought an extra pressure look, and then dropped defensive tackle Christian Wilkins into coverage. Goff didn’t pick that up on a quick pass attempt to Cooper Kupp, and Wilkins had his first career pick.
It wasn’t just the zero blitzes that took Goff out of his game — Flores and Boyer showed him all kinds of blitzes with all kinds of coverages behind — but as McVay said, it was the zero blitzes, and the ability to combine pressure with the illusion of pressure, that made the difference in this game.