Generally speaking, when the deep throw is not a mandatory part of your passing game, there’s a reason for that: Your quarterback can’t execute whatever it is the coaches might want to execute. This has been true of the Rams all season — no matter how much Sean McVay may be a wizard in dialing up different offensive concepts, he’s also hamstrung by quarterback Jared Goff.
This season, per Pro Football Focus, Goff has the second-fewest passing attempts of 20 air yards or more, behind only Chicago’s Nick Foles. In 545 dropbacks, Goff has attempted just 42 deep passes, completing just 13, for 416 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 73.1. Only Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow has fewer deep completions this season among quarterbacks who have taken at least 50% of their teams’ snaps this season, Burrow was in a predominant quick-game offense when he was playing, and he hasn’t taken a snap since Week 11.
So, it would appear that McVay has taken the lead established by the late, great sportswriter Ralph Wiley, who penned this valuable axiom: “A man’s got to know his own limitations. If he doesn’t, his coach should.” Goff can’t connect deep? Don’t ask him to do it. Makes all the sense in the world.
What did not make all the sense in the world, especially in that context, was the two-play sequence McVay called against the Jets starting with 4:05 left in the game. Los Angeles was down 23-20, they had the ball at the New York 37-yard line, and if you’ve been watching the Rams’ offense all season, the last thing you’d expect would be a couple of low-percentage deep shots.
But that’s what happened. Goff failed to connect on a deep throw to running back Cam Akers to his left, and on fourth-and-four, he failed to connect with tight end Gerald Everett to his right. The Jets got the ball back, and after a couple of first downs, Sam Darnold knelt three times to end the game — and to give the Jets the most improbable win of the season.
These were the only two deep passes Goff attempted in the game.
Yesterday against the Jets, Jared Goff attempted two passes of more than 20 air yards. They were the last two plays the Rams had on offense — third-and-4 and fourth-and-4, down 3, from the Jets' 37-yard line.
What the entire heck. pic.twitter.com/Q64h6agdxG
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) December 21, 2020
“Yeah, we felt like we were going to be able to get an opportunity,” McVay said of those two shots. “Really on the third down, we had some looks that we felt like we had a good isolation, but clearly, we have to be able to progress there. And then on the fourth down, had Gerald Everett in a man-to-man situation, and then [receiver] Cooper [Kupp] on an underneath route, where, if we didn’t love that, kind of a little high-low. Ultimately, we didn’t make those plays, but we got the coverage and the looks that we were looking for there.”
Well, here’s the third-down throw to Akers. Nice coverage downfield by linebacker Neville Hewitt, but the ball placement is… less than optimal. And when you’ve converted two of your 10 third-down attempts in the game to that point, maybe this isn’t the play.
McVay’s look at the end says it all.
“Yeah, the first one to Cam, I would have liked to give him a little bit more of a chance there or maybe progress through the play,” Goff said. “Didn’t love where I put it.”
The fourth-down throw to Everett had a better chance — this was more about superb coverage by safety Marcus Maye, who’s been one of the best players at his position in the second half of the season. But as McVay said, Goff could have taken the easier shot to Kupp underneath on the quick comeback. You’ve got a first down there, and about four minutes left. And you are not the quarterback anybody wants taking low-percentage deep shots under any circumstances.
“The second one… yeah, I got everything we wanted, threw a ball out there and Maye made a good play,” Goff said. “I mean, he made a great defensive play and we weren’t able to convert on it.”
It’s easier (and perhaps more appropriate) to blame McVay for this one — get the easy completion and don’t ask your average quarterback to play hero ball in a crucial situation. Goff may have seen what he wanted, but the brain and the arm don’t always work together.
Asked if there was any thought to changing the two plays to something higher-percentage, Goff simply said, “No.”
“I have to go back and look at it,” McVay concluded, when asked what he thought of Goff’s overall performance. “I thought he did a good job getting us a couple scoring drives, and then we had our opportunities and ultimately, collectively we didn’t make enough plays and get it done.”
It could be argued that McVay doesn’t need the tape to know what he has at the quarterback position in this game or any other — he gave his guy too much rope, and the Upset of the Year was the result.