Jared Goff will tell you himself that he didn’t have a great season in 2019. While his yardage total was impressive – he finished third in the NFL with 4,368 yards – his other numbers fell off after an encouraging 2018 campaign.
Part of the reason for that, of course, was the regression from the Rams’ offensive line, as well as the absence of a consistent running game. Play-action didn’t work effectively, Goff had little time in the pocket and teams began to find ways to slow the Rams offense.
It wasn’t all bad for the former Cal Golden Bear, though. He still made some impressive throws and finished the season with multiple touchdown passes in each of his last five games. On third and fourth down, in particular, he made a ton of big-time throws – which Pro Football Focus classifies as passes “with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window.”
According to PFF, Goff made more big-time throws on third and fourth down than any other quarterback with 17. Most of those came on third-down, too, considering he only completed one pass on fourth down last season – a 38-yarder to Robert Woods against the Ravens.
Big-time QBs on 💰 downs pic.twitter.com/iElbMD6MQB
— PFF (@PFF) July 7, 2020
Goff was actually pretty good on third down last year, though his 58.6% completion rate could’ve been much better. He threw for 11 touchdown passes and only six interceptions, posting a passer rating of 94.2 – his highest on any down. He averaged 8.5 yards per attempt, even though 12 of his 22 total sacks came on third down.
There are reasons for encouragement with Goff heading into 2020, and this is just one example. He played better toward the end of the season when the Rams simplified the offense a bit, giving Goff easier throws on rollouts and to his underneath receivers.
Maybe that’s what he needs to get off to a strong start this season.