Jared Goff has taken a beating this season, playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. Entering Week 11, he had been blitzed 121 times (5th-most in the NFL), hurried 35 times (8th) and hit 30 times (6th).
The poor play by the Rams’ offensive line has really held the offense back this year, but on Sunday night against the Bears, it had its best game of the season.
It just so happens that this performance by the O-line came with only one Week 1 starter at his usual position on the field: Andrew Whitworth.
Austin Blythe slid over to center in place of Brian Allen, Bobby Evans stepped in at right tackle for Rob Havenstein and Austin Corbett got the start at left guard. David Edwards lined up at right guard and Whitworth assumed his place at left tackle.
Goff was only pressured once on his 18 dropbacks, which is a pressure rate of 6%. That’s the lowest he’s faced in his career, which says a lot considering it came against Khalil Mack and the Bears’ defensive front.
Jared Goff was pressured only once on 18 dropbacks (6% pressure rate), the lowest pressure rate Goff has faced in a game in his career.
The @RamsNFL are now 14-0 under Sean McVay when Goff is pressured less than 22% of dropbacks (16-18 in all other games).#CHIvsLAR | #LARams pic.twitter.com/3TOU797fhl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 18, 2019
That passing chart still isn’t pretty, but it’s good to see the offensive line playing better – especially under those circumstances. It helps that the Rams used more 12 personnel and put two tight ends on the field throughout the game, but the offensive line did a great job regardless.
They helped pave the way for Todd Gurley’s 97 yards rushing, and Goff also wasn’t sacked once. Evans did an especially good job at right tackle, while Edwards was equally good at right tackle. Corbett deserves some praise for taking over a starting role after about a month with the team, playing well in his first start.
This is a positive step for an offensive line that featured a lot of new faces, and it’s something for the team to build on.
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