It wasn’t pretty, but the Rams moved to 6-4 on the year with a 10-point win over Chicago.
The margin for error in Los Angeles has become razor-thin for the Rams, and they needed a win in the worst way on Sunday night. They got exactly that, beating the Chicago Bears 17-7 at the Coliseum.
It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t a shootout by any means, but the Rams got their sixth win of the year. They move to 6-4 on the season, keeping pace with the Vikings and 49ers, who won earlier on Sunday.
The Rams had just 283 yards of total offense, and Jared Goff struggled throughout the night, but Todd Gurley had a big impact and helped lift the team to victory. The defense was a big part of the win, holding Chicago to 267 yards and 6-for-17 on third down.
Player of the game: Todd Gurley
Gurley had his most productive game of the year, gaining more than 100 yards from scrimmage and setting a season-high with 28 touches. He was the only consistent player on offense in a game where neither team had much success.
Stat to know: 3.6
The Rams held the Bears to just 3.6 yards per play on Sunday night, limiting them to only 267 yards of total offense on 74 plays.
Game notes
The Bears defense is good, but there’s still something off with the Rams offense. Jared Goff simply isn’t playing well right now and it’s really holding the team back. Sean McVay opted to lean heavily on the run, which was the only part of the offense that worked, but it also limited the number of big plays Los Angeles could produce.
Goff finished the game only throwing it 18 times, completing 11 of those passes for 173 yards. He had zero touchdowns and one interception with a passer rating of 69.9. He should’ve had two touchdowns, but Cooper Kupp fumbled it at the 1-yard line and a 51-yard TD pass to Josh Reynolds was taken off the board due to a penalty.
Without Robert Woods, the Rams had to change things up with their personnel. They utilized a lot of 12 personnel, putting two tight ends on the field at the same time very often – especially early in the game.
Gerald Everett didn’t play much in this one, and even when he was on the field, he didn’t have much of an impact on the game. He was only targeted once and made a 20-yard grab, but he played his fewest snaps of the season. It’s unclear why that is, but Everett was limited in practice with a wrist injury this past week.
Gurley finally got going, being featured heavily on offense. The Rams were atrocious on third down, which caused drives to stall, but Gurley played well. He went over 100 yards from scrimmage and scored one touchdown, essentially carrying the Rams offense to victory. On a night where Goff was subpar, Gurley stepped up in a big way.
Jalen Ramsey had his best performance of the season as a member of the Rams. He covered Allen Robinson for much of the night, and the Bears wideout only had four catches for 15 yards. Troy Hill was also effective, making six tackles with one interception and a sack.
The Bears had almost no answer for Aaron Donald, as is the case for most offensive lines. He had two sacks, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits in the game.
Twitter loved the catch Blake Bortles made on the sideline
Sean McVay designed a play specifically for Blake Bortles last week against the Steelers, getting him on the field for a key third-down read-option. It didn’t work, but perhaps McVay put him in the wrong position.
Maybe he belongs at wide receiver.
During Sunday night’s game against the Bears, Bortles made a nice sideline catch on a throw-away by Jared Goff. He made it look easy, too.
The Bears and Rams will face off in a do-or-die prime time matchup where both teams are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Chicago Bears (4-5) are heading into a meaningful prime time game in November against the Los Angeles Rams (5-4), where both teams are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The story for both teams are their struggling offenses, led by quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Jared Goff. This game looks to be a defensive battle, and it might come down to which offense makes the fewest mistakes.
Let’s look at three keys to a Bears victory on Sunday:
1. Pressure Jared Goff
Joe Robbins/Getty Images
When the Bears faced the Rams last season, they made Jared Goff uncomfortable from the get-go. What resulted was a four-interception performance, which resulted in a 15-6 victory for the Bears.
If the Bears are going to beat the Rams on Sunday, they need to generate pressure on Goff, who has been struggling mightily of late. It doesn’t help Goff that he’ll be operating behind a makeshift offensive line that’ll have to deal with Khalil Mack and the Bears’ pass rush.
Speaking of Mack, the Bears need their All-Pro linebacker to step up in one of the biggest games of the season. After starting the season with 4.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in four games, Mack has managed just on sack over the last five games.
The Bears will face the Rams in a rematch of last season’s defensive showdown. So we’re going Behind Enemy Lines to learn about the Rams.
The Chicago Bears (4-5) will face the Los Angeles Rams (5-4) in a prime-time rematch of last season’s defensive showdown.
The Bears broke their four-game losing streak with a divisional victory over the Detroit Lions in Week 10, and they’ll be looking to keep that momentum going against a Rams team that’s struggling on offense.
Before the game, we caught up with managing editor Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire to get the scoop on the Bears’ Week 11 opponent.
Here are six questions with Rams Wire:
1. The Rams signed QB Jared Goff to a massive extension before the season, but he doesn’t appear to be living up to that contract. He’s had a string of bad performances against good teams. What’s going on with Goff?
A lot of the blame falls on the offensive line. It’s been one of the worst units in the NFL, and Goff is not a quarterback who can overcome poor play up front. He’s not exactly mobile, his pocket awareness is average at best, and he tries to do more with the ball than he should when he’d be better off just taking a sack. Even when he does get time, though, he’s throwing it inaccurately and missing open receivers. He just doesn’t have the confidence he had last season, and much of that is because of the constant pressure he’s been under.
2. Todd Gurley faced a lot of questions this offseason about the status of his left knee, where many wondered if he’d be as effective as he once was. Last week, Gurley had his most efficient game on the ground season the season opener. How have the Rams handled Gurley’s usage this season?
Put simply, not well. They’ve done a poor job managing his workload, as evidenced by him not even getting the ball once in the fourth quarter last week. They keep saying he’s not hurt and he isn’t on a pitch count, but he hasn’t carried the ball more than 18 times in a single game this season. He hasn’t been the player he was the last two years, especially as a receiver, and it’s held the Rams offense back. He needs to be involved more on offense.
3. In the first two years of Sean McVay’s tenure, the offensive line was successful. They were a big part of the Rams’ Super Bowl run. But this season, that hasn’t been the case. They’ve done a poor job of protecting Goff, allowing four sacks last week against the Steelers. What’s wrong with the offensive line?
Injuries and a lack of experience are the primary factors. On Sunday, they’ll have just one player on the offensive line who also started Week 1 (Andrew Whitworth). There will be three players making their first starts of the season at their respective positions, which could lead to a disaster at the Coliseum. This is one of the worst offensive lines in the league, and it’s a big reason for the Rams’ regression.
4. When talking about this defense, the conversation begins and ends with All-Pro DT Aaron Donald. While Donald’s numbers have died off a bit compared to last season — he has six sacks and two forced fumbles in nine games — stats don’t tell the whole story. How have Donald and the Rams’ pass rush looked this season?
Really good. It’s been a bright spot of the defense, as they’ve gotten production out of Clay Matthews and Dante Fowler Jr. at outside linebacker. Donald is as good as he always is, but the fact that other defenders are stepping up certainly helps the defense in a big way. That trio of pass rushers is a handful for any offense.
5. The Rams traded for CB Jalen Ramsey to strengthen their secondary. Has Ramsey been worth the pair of first-round picks the Rams gave up for him? How has the secondary looked since he joined the team?
He’s been somewhat up-and-down so far, but the defense as a whole has been much better since he arrived. He allows them to play more man coverage and blitz more often, which leads to an aggressive style of defense. He’ll match up with Allen Robinson on Sunday night in what should be a good individual battle, and lining him across from No. 1 receivers is why the Rams paid up to acquire him. He was worth the cost, in my opinion.
6. What’s your prediction for the game?
I think the Bears are going to pull off the upset. Their defense has the ability to shut down the Rams, as we saw last season. And while Chicago’s offense is not very good, it’s good enough to win this game. Bears 20, Rams 17
Sean McVay knows the importance of Jared Goff keeping both hands on the ball when pressure arises.
Jared Goff is having a rough year despite ranking among the league leaders in passing yards. He’s regressed in every other notable statistical category, from completion percentage to touchdowns, to turnovers to yards per attempt. His passer rating has dropped significantly, too, going from over 100 in 2017 and 2018 to 82.7 this season.
One of Goff’s biggest flaws is his inability to protect the ball in the pocket. He led the league with 12 fumbles last season and is on pace to shatter that number in 2019. Goff has already fumbled it nine times in nine games, losing five of those fumbles.
Against the Steelers, he had three fumbles (one lost) to go along with two interceptions. That’s not the ball security any coach wants to see from his quarterback, let along one making as much money with as much experience as Goff.
Sean McVay said on Thursday that the Rams’ coaches will continue to emphasize the importance of ball security to Goff – and the rest of the offense, for that matter.
“Anytime you talk about that, everybody has a responsibility – coaches, player. Playing in the timing and rhythm sometimes taking a sack, keeping two hands on the ball is the best thing to be able to do there. I think it’s a collaboration of everybody, but that is certainly something that is a point of emphasis, you try to drill it,” he said. “It’s always hard to truly mimic and emulate that when you don’t get tackled and you don’t have the ability for guys really swiping at that hand, but he understands the importance of it. It’s something that we’re going to continuously drill and make a big point of emphasis and just keep drilling and keep working at it. We trust that, the things that we are talking about and I know how conscientious he is as well. That’s where you will start to see, hopefully some tangible results. It is a credit to those guys, but that’s definitely something that’s a point of emphasis for us as an offense, not exclusive to Jared.”
Goff’s nine interceptions are certainly a cause for concern, but so are his nine fumbles. His careless nature in the pocket when it comes to protecting the ball has become a troubling trend for the young quarterback, and the Rams are fortunate only five of his nine fumbles have been lost.
You can bet the Bears’ defensive front has recognized Goff’s carelessness in the pocket and will attack the ball when getting close to the quarterback. He fumbled it once in the Rams’ loss to Chicago last season, also throwing four interceptions.
The Rams throw the ball 96% of the time when they’re in shotgun, and teams are picking up on that glaringly obvious trend.
For two years, Sean McVay was one of the toughest coaches to figure out. His offense was dynamic and difficult to stop, helping elevate the play of everyone from Todd Gurley to Robert Woods to Jared Goff.
The basis of his offense is utilizing 11 personnel, pre-snap motion and play-action passes to deceive the defense. After all, common says having the same 11 players on the field for nearly every play makes it difficult to predict whether it’s a pass or run coming.
For two years, his scheme worked to perfection. This season has not been so kind to McVay with many suggesting he’s been exposed by opposing defenses. To an extent, that assessment isn’t necessarily wrong. But at the same time, the offensive line is decimated and Goff has regressed as a result.
But if there’s one thing McVay can control, it’s tendencies and tells. One in particular sticks out like a sore thumb when you watch the Rams play – and it’s probably something you’ve noticed yourself.
The Rams never run the ball out of shotgun formations.
According to Inside Edge, running backs have only gotten 12 carries out of the gun this year, picking up 45 yards on such plays. Both numbers are the lowest in the NFL by a wide margin. When the Rams go into shotgun formations, they throw the ball 96% of the time, according to Sharp Football Stats. Of course, that’s the widest differential in the league, with the next-closest team being the Buccaneers (91% pass).
When under center, the Rams are more balanced. They throw the ball 35% of the time (8th-highest) and run it 65% (25th). That’s why they’re able to run play-action fakes when the running back is lined up behind Goff, because there’s actually a threat to run the ball.
Sharp Football Stats
Out of the gun, the Rams don’t even bother trying with ball fakes. You almost never see Goff fake the handoff to Gurley when the two are lined up side by side. That’s because Gurley has only carried it eight times out of the shotgun for a measly 17 yards. Where’s the threat defenses have to account for?
Against the Steelers on Sunday afternoon, this tendency was on full display in the fourth quarter. On their last two drives, the Rams were in shotgun on every single play. Even with all three timeouts and nearly three minutes on the clock during their first drive, there was never a threat to run the ball by Los Angeles. No fake handoffs, no under-center plays, no play action. This tendency is so glaringly obvious that the Steelers almost certainly picked up on it coming into the game and knew that when the Rams were in shotgun, there was almost no chance they were going to run the ball.
As a result, they pinned their ears back and rushed Goff every time he was in the gun. This might seem obvious late in the game, and it is. Down five points, most teams are going to be airing the ball out. The Rams didn’t have to with three timeouts, but that’s the strategy they opted for.
This is the play just before the two-minute warning – a situation where running the ball is absolutely an option. Look how quickly the Steelers’ edge rushers get up the field, knowing there’s no chance the Rams are going to hand it off.
Clearly, gaining 3.8 yards per carry on rush attempts out of the gun doesn’t inspire much confidence. However, the fact that they’re not even trying to run it out of that formation is allowing defenses to know what’s coming. This wasn’t as big of a deal last season when teams were still trying to figure out McVay’s offense, but the Rams rarely ran it out of shotgun then, either.
They threw it 96% of the time out of the gun and ran it just 4% of the time. In 2017, the gap was closer: 87% run, 13% pass. With a full year of tape from last season to watch, and that tendency standing out so clearly, defenses have likely figured out what’s coming when Goff is in the gun – and McVay has yet to adjust.
It doesn’t help that the Rams have been in the shotgun more often this year than they were last year. In 2018, they used shotgun 38% of the time compared to 46% of the time this season. The more they use shotgun formations, the more predictable the offense gets.
Goff came from an Air Raid offense in college and lived in the shotgun at Cal. McVay has catered the offense to his skill set the last three years, giving him far more pass attempts out of the gun than under center since 2017. It also fits with what Gurley does best, running it from traditional singleback formations.
As bad as Gurley has been out of the gun in his career, the Rams do have a guy with a skill set that can have some success in those situations: Darrell Henderson. With Gurley seeing his workload limited, the Rams should take advantage of Henderson and hand him the ball out of the gun. At least that will keep the defense on its toes, rather than allowing edge rushers to pin their ears back and get after the QB.
Or what about a run-pass option (RPO)? The Eagles used that heavily on their march to the Super Bowl a few years ago. It’s an easy way to limit the effectiveness of a team’s pass rush, causing the defensive linemen to freeze for a second to read the play. Running RPOs with Goff and Henderson could be a nice wrinkle to the offense.
No matter what the solution is, McVay has to at least bring some unpredictability into the equation when the Rams line up in the gun. With no threat to run the ball, defenses are hardly ever fooled and pass rushers are teeing off on Goff. With a makeshift offensive line, that’s a disastrous combination.
Jared Goff isn’t worried about playing behind the Rams’ patched-together offensive line.
[jwplayer 1vROLFUW-ThvAeFxT]
In the last two years, the Rams had the same four offensive linemen start all 32 games. The fifth position was occupied by Jamon Brown in 2017 and Austin Blythe last year, meaning the Rams only started six different players up front in two years – a truly remarkable feat.
This season, they’ve already started six different players in nine games, and that number is going to rise by two in Week 11. With Brian Allen and Rob Havenstein both out, the Rams will thrust two new faces into the starting lineup.
Here’s how the offensive line is expected to look on Sunday night against the Bears:
LT Andrew Whitworth
LG Austin Corbett
C Austin Blythe
RG David Edwards
RT Bobby Evans
Corbett and Evans will be making their first starts for the Rams, while Blythe will be playing out of his normal position (guard). The only remaining starter at his original position in Week 1 is Andrew Whitworth.
Against a defensive front like Chicago’s, Jared Goff could be in for a beating. He’s not concerned about it, though, and will just try to do his job.
“I trust those guys, I feel good with them and they’ve done a great job. Outside of Corbett, we have experience with all of them,” Goff said Wednesday. “Austin, I thought, did a great job last week with his limited time. It’s part of the job. It’s not always going to be perfect back there and if it’s not, I’ll be just fine. If it is – as I do expect them to play well – it’ll be great as well. It’s part of the job description and when you play quarterback, at times, it’s not always going to be like we had the last couple years. I think we had probably 32-straight games with the starting five, and that’s really unheard of. This is more closer to reality and just going to prepare for it.”
Sean McVay expressed similar confidence in the Rams’ new starters on the offensive line, specifically talking about Corbett playing well in limited action on Sunday and Edwards making a seamless switch between guard and tackle.
“To see Austin Corbett seamlessly step in, do a nice job at the left guard spot. To see David Edwards start the game off playing really well at the right guard spot and then transition outside. I think it’s unfortunate, you hate to see your guys get injured. Anytime that occurs, you never like that. When it does occur, you get the chance to really evaluate guys and I thought they took advantage of those opportunities to be evaluated and to step up,” McVay said.
The Rams can do nothing but proceed with the current players they have. They just have to hope to survive the absence of Havenstein for a few weeks until he can return.
Jared Goff has been a mess on play-action passes, and while it’s not all his fault, he deserves plenty of blame.
A staple of the Rams offense the last two years was play-action passes. They were one of the best teams in the NFL in that department in Sean McVay’s first two seasons, but things have changed dramatically this year.
The Rams have tried to utilize play action this season, but Jared Goff has suddenly turned into one of the worst quarterbacks in the league after play fakes. According to ESPN, Goff has a passer rating of 71.0 on play-action passes – the worst mark in the NFL.
For most of the 2018 season, Goff was among the top quarterbacks on play action, posting a passer rating well above 100. That’s a troubling trend and it’s a huge reason Los Angeles’ offense has taken a monumental step backward from last year.
The reasoning is fairly simple, too. It’s not that wide receivers are dropping passes or their routes aren’t good enough. It primarily falls on the shoulders of Goff and the offensive line – with a dash of an ineffective running game mixed in.
Because the Rams aren’t running the ball well right now, defenses aren’t biting on play fakes. They don’t buy the fact that Los Angeles is going to hand the ball off and aren’t exactly threatened by Todd Gurley or the other tailbacks. When you’re 19th in rush attempts and 20th in rushing yards, teams aren’t going to pay much attention to the ground game.
That’s a small part of the problem, but the primary issues are with the offensive line.
Even the most casual football fans know play action doesn’t work without the quarterback getting time in the pocket. If working under center, Goff has to turn his back to the defense to fake the handoff to the running back. The offensive line has to give Goff time to execute the fake and allow the routes to develop down the field.
Currently, the O-line is not getting the job done. To make matters worse, neither is Goff.
Even when he does get time in the pocket, he can’t hit open receivers downfield. His accuracy has regressed this season at every level of the field, which is why his completion percentage is down from 65% in 2018 to 60.3% this season.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of Goff simply making bad decisions and throws.
This was ruled defensive pass interference, but Cooper Kupp was open and Goff underthrew him – badly. If Goff throws the ball when Kupp comes free initially, it has a chance to go for a big gain.
He waits too long and the defender closes the gap with the ball coming up well short.
On this play-action pass, he wisely avoids throwing into double-coverage and decides to check down to Josh Reynolds in the flat. But he throws an embarrassingly bad pass that went backwards for a fumble; if he hits Reynolds, it likely goes for a big play.
Finally, here’s another example of Goff getting enough time after a play-action fake to find someone open. Instead of seeing Cooper Kupp release off his block and come wide open on the weakside, Goff stares down his primary target (Tyler Higbee) and forces the ball into double-coverage.
It was easily intercepted by Joe Haden, ending what could have been a fairly promising drive.
Without the benefit of play action working, the Rams offense is stalling like crazy. Some of it falls on the offensive line playing as poorly as any in the NFL right now, but Goff isn’t doing anything to make up for it – which is something the better QBs in the league can do.
This regression is alarming, and it has to change if the Rams are going to get things back on track. It starts with running the ball consistently, getting better play from the offensive line – which is decimated right now – and finally, some improvement from Goff.
The Bears will play the Rams in a primetime matchup, which features a ton of talent. But which Rams player would you want in Chicago?
[jwplayer rzKgNnfu-ThvAeFxT]
The Chicago Bears (4-5) will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams (5-4) in a rematch of last season’s defensive showdown.
But make no mistake, these two teams are far from the teams they both were a season ago. The Bears, who were deemed Super Bowl contenders, just broke a four-game losing streak and while they remain “in the hunt,” their chance at the playoffs are slim.
Then there are the Rams, who are coming off a Super Bowl appearance but appear headed in the wrong direction. While their defense continues to be a solid unit — led by reigning Defensive Player of theYear Aaron Donald — it’s their offense that has been struggling of late. The offensive line is a mess, and quarterback Jared Goff has looked as bad, if not worse, than his buddy Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky at times.
But there’s still a ton of talent on the Rams — both on offense but especially defense.
Which begs the question — which Rams player would you want on the Bears?
In 2018, Sean McVay was considered the NFL’s greatest offensive play-caller. Doug Farrar explains how far things have fallen this season.
Each week, Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar will review one play that, due to an embarrassing use of scheme or personnel or situational awareness or a lethal combination of all three, should be removed from the playbook, set ablaze and never seen again. This week, let’s take a look at how one desperate coach — Sean McVay of the Rams — went rogue as his team seemed unable to remember how to score offensive touchdowns.
It’s safe to say that, one season after he took his Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl and was officially declared the greatest offensive play-designer in the NFL, head coach Sean McVay is searching desperately for answers. His offense has dropped from second in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics in 2018 to 21st in 2019. Behind a patchwork offensive line and let down by a suddenly unspectacular rushing attack, quarterback Jared Goff has — depending on your opinion of him — either regressed severely or simply found his true level as a mediocre quarterback who needs everything going right around him to succeed.
Goff’s touchdown percentage has dropped from 5.7% to 3.1%. His adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) has gone from 7.69 to 6.22. And like his entire offense, Goff’s DVOA rating has plummeted — from fifth in 2018 to 24th in 2019. Per Pro Football Focus, Goff led the NFL with 16 touchdown passes off play-action in 2018; this year, through nine games in 2018, he has just one.
Perhaps the most embarrassing distillation of McVay’s offense this season came last Sunday when the Rams lost to the Steelers, 17-12. The Rams scored their points on a Dante Fowler fumble return for a touchdown, a sack of Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph for a safety, and a Greg Zuerlein field goal. Goff, who completed 22 of 41 passes for 243 yards and two interceptions, didn’t get near the end zone. On the day, the Rams’ offensive drives ended thusly: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, missed field goal, interception, interception, field goal, punt, punt, downs, interception.
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff absorbs a hit from Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward in Sunday’s game. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Wait — that’s three interceptions, you may be asking? I thought Goff only threw two? Well, we’re about to get to that. The weirdest part of this total offensive failure came with 8:33 left in the third quarter. The Steelers were up 14-7, and Goff had thrown his first interception of the day to end the Rams’ previous drive. Now, McVay had third-and-2 to deal with after Todd Gurley’s 9-yard run on first down, and Goff’s second-down pass to tight end Tyler Higbee that lost a yard. At this point, the Rams had gone 13 consecutive possessions without an offensive touchdown.
So, McVay thought outside the box. WAY outside the box. Goff was hit hard by cornerback Mike Hilton on a blitz, causing him to throw quickly on the second-down play, and he left the field with what appeared to be a minor injury. In Goff’s stead entered backup Blake Bortles, who had taken only three snaps all season.
Then this happened.
Bortles botched the snap — he looked surprised by it, in fact — and ran to his right after what appeared to be a completely busted play for a 1-yard gain. One could assume this was the result of a bad quarterback coming in cold and trying to execute an offense he doesn’t yet understand. But Bortles was signed to a one-year contract in March after five up-and-down seasons with the Jaguars; you’d think he’d get the zone-read packages enough to avoid junk like this.
“Unfortunately, for us, that was one of the first times in the game, and it didn’t happen until the third quarter, that we really had a third-and-short situation come up,” McVay said. “There was a couple of things that we had potentially discussed as far as using Blake Bortles, his skill set — he’s a quarterback, but he also has some running threat. That was a play and kind of a package, if you will, that we had worked.”
In other words, they had practiced a play in which Jared Goff came off the field and Blake Bortles came into the game as a misbegotten option quarterback.
While you’re still marinating in that particular genius, it behooves us to explain what happened next. On fourth-and-1, McVay called something that had worked in the past — a fake-punt pass from Johnny Hekker. Before this play, Hekker had completed 11 of 20 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown in his seven-year career. He had never thrown an interception.
Until Sunday. This wasn’t even a fake punt per se — McVay basically threw Hekker out there as his third quarterback on fourth down. The Rams started off in a punt formation, but then motioned to a 3-by-2 empty set. Perhaps in a show of solidarity with Goff, Hekker looked a lot like Goff has all season when under pressure.
Not that this was all Hekker’s fault — since the Rams had special teams personnel on the field, there were no actual offensive linemen in his offensive line, and no top-tier receivers among his targets. Hekker may have been McVay’s most effective quarterback at that point in the game, so why not give him half a chance with offensive personnel?
“There was a certain look that we had, and it wasn’t quite exactly what we were looking for on the fake punt,” McVay explained after the game. “Johnny Hekker does a great job of recognizing those. Some of those things that you end up being able to activate in a game, if it doesn’t always work out the way we want, when you’ve got the right kind of guys like you do in Johnny Hekker and [special teams coach] John Fassel, we learn from it the right way. We use it as a chance to move forward in a positive manner when those situations present themselves in the future.”
Let’s hope so, for McVay’s sake. The Rams are now 5-4, losing ground to the 49ers and Seahawks in the NFL’s most top-heavy division, and if McVay is not able to wrangle some of last season’s brilliance, it will very quickly be a lost season for the Rams.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”
