Jared Goff was undeservingly called a bust by some folks after his rookie season in 2016, struggling to have any success under coach Jeff Fisher. Then Sean McVay was hired by the Rams in 2017 and everything changed.
Since then, Goff has thrown 88 touchdowns and only 37 interceptions, posting a very impressive 96.3 passer rating; it was 63.6 in his rookie year. This isn’t to say McVay is the reason for Goff’s success, but there’s no question his coaching has helped the young quarterback improve in the NFL.
Ideally, Goff and McVay will be together for a long, long time. The Rams hope that’s the case after extending both through the year 2023, with Goff signed until 2024. Washington head coach Ron Rivera has been impressed by the Rams’ duo, likening Goff and McVay to the great tandem of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
“As soon as those two guys get together, I mean, who knows? You could have a relationship there, like they have in New Orleans between Sean Payton and Drew Bree,” Rivera said Wednesday, before continuing on. “That’s the kind of relationship you could see. I mean, a young guy developing with another young coach and those two could be there together for 10, 15 years and you can have a dynamic duo. That’s what they have in New Orleans. I mean, it’s as good a duo as a quarterback and head coach that I’ve seen since Belichick and Brady.”
That’s some seriously high praise from Rivera, but there’s no denying the hot start Goff and McVay have gotten off to. They’ve made the playoffs twice in three years, reached the Super Bowl once and Goff has been a Pro Bowler twice under McVay’s guidance.
Goff certainly appreciated Rivera’s kind words, but he’s not satisfied with how far he and McVay have come in three short years.
“Yeah, that’s a huge compliment coming from him, and I appreciate that,” he said Wednesday. “Yeah, we’ve got a long way to go. Those guys have obviously won Super Bowls together. Me and Sean have to win one first and then we can start, you know, hopefully having a long career together. But we’ve got a lot of work to do and we feel good about where we’re at. I’ve obviously loved Sean as my head coach, and I feel he feels the same way about me, but it’s been great, and we hope to keep growing.”
Rivera will get a close look at Goff and McVay on Sunday when the Rams visit his Washington Football Team.
