For the second consecutive weeks, the Los Angeles Rams have a chance to clinch a playoff berth – only this time, their opponent won’t be the 0-13 New York Jets. Instead, they’ll be on the road against the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks, who can put a bow on the division with a win over Los Angeles on Sunday.
The Rams are going to do everything they can to prevent that from happening, and in all likelihood, it’ll take a strong performance by Jared Goff to knock off Seattle. In his four seasons as the full-time starter since Sean McVay took over, Goff has played in plenty of big games.
His experience in marquee spots has McVay confident that Goff can win when the Rams need him most to punch their ticket to the postseason. McVay was asked Wednesday to evaluate Goff’s performance in playoff-clinching scenarios, and he was happy to go through some of the biggest spots Goff has been in by once again showcasing his ridiculous football recall.
“I mean, you want to go through all the games? Going back to the first game, when you end up having a chance, I mean, really when you look at it, the third-to-last game, we knew we had to beat Seattle at their place,” McVay began. “I thought we played really well as a team and then you ultimately clinched the division at Tennessee in Week 16 and I thought he played really well. He ended up driving us down the field. He hit Cooper Kupp on a corner route for a touchdown that ended up clinching the game and a big-time throw on third down.”
In 2018, when Goff helped lead the Rams to the playoffs, they clinched the division in Week 13 against the Lions with an 11-1 start. Then in Week 17, they locked up a first-round bye by beating the 49ers in the season finale.
“Then you look at the next season, he played really well in a lot of big-time games,” McVay continued. “We were able to clinch the division at Detroit, and that was again, another good team win, but I thought he had some really big-time games that got us to that moment. We look at it as in the (2018) season, really starting after we had that two-game losing streak, really, when you go from Arizona and you finish up with San Francisco, you’ve really got to be able to win those games and I thought he played really well in those games. It was reflective of getting us to two seed and earning a bye. So, he’s done really well.”
Last season, the Rams didn’t have nearly as much success, especially late in the season. They went into the final three weeks of the season at 8-5, potentially needing to win out to make the playoffs. Goff didn’t play terribly, but the Rams still came up short with losses to the Cowboys and 49ers, being eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16.
“Last year was a little bit different, because we were kind of behind the eight ball with the way that the season went,” McVay said. “He gave us a chance. I thought he did a lot of really good things on the Saturday night game against the 49ers where we just came up short. Then I liked the way that he really finished the last month of the season last year. So, he’s played well in those games. He’s played in a lot of big-time games and certainly this is a big-time one.”
Going back through some of the games McVay mentioned, as well as others that carried major playoff implications for the Rams, here’s a look at how Goff has performed in those contests. For the most part, he’s taken care of the football and helped carry the offense with a high number of touchdown passes and good yardage numbers.
But unfortunately, the Rams are only 3-3 in those games where they either had a chance to clinch a playoff berth, first-round bye or keep their postseason hopes alive.
- Week 16, 2017: at Titans (win) – 22-for-38, 301 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 2 fumbles (1 lost)
- Week 13, 2018: at Lions (win) – 17-for-33, 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 fumble (1 lost)
- Week 17, 2018: vs. 49ers (win) – 15-for-26, 199 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 1 fumble
- Week 15, 2019: at Cowboys (loss) – 33-for-51, 284 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
- Week 16, 2019: at 49ers (loss) – 27-for-46, 323 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
- Week 15, 2020: vs. Jets (loss) – 22-for-34, 209 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
- Total: 136-for-228 (59.6%), 1,523 yards, 15 TDs, 4 INTs, 4 fumbles (2 lost)
Zooming out to make the sample size a bit larger, Goff has overall played fairly well in the month of December. Excluding his disastrous 2016 season, which was before McVay arrived, Goff is 11-6 in December with a strong touchdown-to-interception ratio and a passer rating near 100.
- December 2017-2020: 397-for-618 (64.2%), 4,321 yards, 31 TDs, 14 INTs, 92.0 passer rating, 11-6 record
Quarterbacks get the praise when their team wins and the blame for losses, which is just what comes with playing the most important position in sports. Goff can’t do it all himself, so hopefully he’ll get some help from his teammates as the Rams gear up to stay alive in the NFC West race on Sunday.
Goff has proved capable of winning big games, including two in the playoffs, but he’d love to build on his legacy with another strong performance Sunday in Seattle to clinch a postseason berth – assuming the Rams don’t clinch one on Saturday with an Arizona win.
[vertical-gallery id=643120]