Goff shows some fight in Rams loss

Don’t let his white gloves fool you. Jared Goff showed he can do the dirty work.

At snow-sprinkled Lambeau Field on Saturday, Goff raged against his injured thumb, fought without his favorite receiver, battled a relentless pass rush and slapped hard at weeks’ worth of doubts.

The Rams lost, but Goff won.

The Packers’ unstoppable offense triumphed, but the Rams’ beleaguered quarterback shined.

For now, anyway.

The final score in the NFC divisional playoff game was Packers 32, Rams 18, but the real intriguing outcome was elsewhere.

It was Jared Goff 1, John Wolford and any other potential Rams starting quarterback 0.

It’s still close. There’s still uncertainty. This offseason, the Rams would be foolish not to bring in a veteran backup to challenge Goff. It’s almost guaranteed they will continue to nurture Wolford as a potential replacement.

But with the odds stacked against him in a chilly stadium filled with 9,000 hearty fans, Goff played well enough to at least go into the spring as the Rams starter. His coach even said as much afterward, albeit without a ton of enthusiasm.

“Yeah,” Sean McVay said without elaborating. “He’s the quarterback right now.”

McVay was generally complimentary of his bruised leader, saying all the right things even if few of them contained exclamation points.

“I thought Jared did a nice job,” he said. On this day, anyway, Goff was a pretty darn good quarterback, missing on only six of 27 passes that included a drop and a couple of tips. He threw for only 174 yards because of McVay’s conservative thumb-related play-calling, but he threw for a touchdown and didn’t make any big mistakes, no turnovers, no horrendously missed passes, and twice he had the Rams in position to at least tie the game. Both times, a top-ranked Rams defense without the full services of injured Aaron Donald failed them.

“There were a couple of opportunities where he got us into a rhythm,” McVay said of Goff. “I thought he saw the field really well . ... I thought he was good and efficient with his decisions . ... Overall, I thought he did a nice job.”

Late in the first half, Goff led them on a 75-yard touchdown drive in which he was four for four, finding wide receiver Van Jefferson across the middle in traffic for 21 yards, then finishing it with a fouryard dink to Jefferson between two Packers defenders to pull the Rams within a touchdown.

Yet the Packers scored on their next two possessions.

Then in the third quarter, Goff pulled them within a touchdown again by going seven for seven on a 79-yard touchdown drive that included a six-yard scramble. The two-point conversion closed the gap to 25-18.

But, with the ball in the fourth quarter and a chance to tie, the Rams offense sputtered to a stop. Josh Reynolds dropped a pass, Goff was sacked, then on third and 16, Goff was forced out of the pocket and into a safety throw to Jefferson that was far short of the first down.

The Packers scored five plays later on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard ahead of chasing Rams defensive backs Troy Hill and Jordan Fuller to clinch it.

“It’s always tough, it’s extremely disappointing,” Goff said. “You come so far, play against the top seed, feel good most of the game. Feel like you have a chance to win. Obviously come up short. It’s a tough feeling.”

Goff bemoaned the missed opportunities while refusing to revel in his personal success. If nothing else, he talked like a secure starting quarterback.

Listen to his answer when asked whether he took any solace in perhaps showing the Rams that he’s capable of remaining their starting quarterback.

“No,” he said. “I mean, we didn’t win the game. My job is to win the game . ... There’s absolutely no moral victories, especially in the playoffs.”

Yeah, but for once, the Rams can’t blame the QB. He might not have been spectacular, but he was good enough.

It wasn’t Goff ’s fault that, on their second possession, guard Austin Corbett jumped early for a penalty that cost them a chance at converting a fourth and one deep in Packers territory. They had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Matt Gay.

It wasn’t Goff’s fault that Donald grabbed offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins’ face mask on the Packers’ ensuing drive, leading to a penalty that was the key play on the home team’s first touchdown march.

It wasn’t Goff ’s fault that both safety John Johnson and Hill dropped potential interceptions in the end zone, allowing the Packers to tack on a 39-yard field goal by Mason Crosby to end the first half with a 19-10 lead.

But, again, Goff takes no solace in any of that.

“I was proud of myself to be able to get back out there, absolutely,” he said. “But I’m not proud of losing this game.”