Jared Goff addresses his turnover troubles: ‘They need to be eliminated’

Jared Goff’s turnovers have become the Rams’ biggest problem.

Jared Goff has eight career games where he’s turned the ball over at least three times. Unsurprisingly, the Rams are 1-7 in those contests – including Sunday’s loss to the 49ers where Goff threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

Turnovers have become a real problem for Goff and it’s sinking the Rams, wasting a dominant defense that ranks at or near the top of the NFL in most key categories. Sean McVay knows it, Kevin O’Connell likely knows it and Goff himself certainly knows it, too.

“At the end of the day, they need to be eliminated,” Goff said after Sunday’s loss. “I don’t think there’s one thing that needs to stop, it just needs to be a little bit smarter with the ball and better decision making. That’s part of my job. I may be good at other parts of the job right now but that’s the main part and that’s something I need to be a lot better in.”

Goff now has 14 turnovers this season, which is tied for second-most of any quarterback in the NFL. In the last four games, he’s turned it over a whopping 10 times, throwing six picks and losing four fumbles. On Sunday alone, he threw two interceptions – one of which was returned for a touchdown by defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw – and coughed up a fumble while trying to do too much on a scramble instead of just sliding down.

Only Carson Wentz has more giveaways than Goff, which is certainly not company the Rams quarterback wants to keep, given the struggles Wentz has endured this year. Goff’s frequent turnovers have now put the Rams near the bottom of the league in giveaways, ranking 27th in that department with 19 total turnovers.

Fortunately, they’re fourth in takeaways with 18 on the year, but that still puts them in the red as far as turnover margin goes. Goff is the one to blame for that, committing 74% of the Rams’ turnovers.

He’s prepared to correct the issue, but it’ll take some adjustments to his game because plays like the ones that occurred on Sunday can’t happen in the future.

“We’ve got another game next week. Just get after it starting tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve had to bounce back from various things before this is just another one of those hurdles. I don’t wish to have too many more hurdles for the rest of the year, but this is another one I have to bounce back from.”

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