Rams could lose Goff for Cards game
The Rams’ sputtering offense is the biggest culprit in their slide fromthe top of the NFCWest to the brink of missing the playoffs.
In fact, the unit is so ineffective that it’s unclear whether the injury absence of its starting quarterback and its leading rusherwould hurt or help.
Jared Goff and Darrell Henderson could both miss theRams’regular season finale against Arizona on Sunday.
The Rams ( 9- 6), which led the division before its first two- game skid of the season, will miss the playoffs if it loses to the Cardinals and the Bears beat the Packers. Goff injured his thumb in the Rams’ 20- 9 loss at Seattle last Sunday, while Henderson hurt his ankle. The Rams alreadywere without their second- leading rusher, rookie Cam Akers, who sprained his ankle aweek earlier.
Goff reportedly had surgeryMonday on his thumb.
But the injuries don’t cover the depth and breadth of everything going wrong with coach SeanMcVay’s offense, which couldn’t score a touch down despite gaining 334 yards against the Sea hawks.
The Rams are seventh in the NFL with just under 380 yards per game, yet they’re 17th in the league with only 23.6 points per game. LA has moved the ball well occasionally in December, but with nothing like the flair and consistency of a Super Bowl contender, let alone the Rams’ units from2017 and 2018.
“We’ve had opportunities the last two weeks topunchour ticket to the playoffs, and unfortunately we haven’ t played well enough to do that,” center Austin Blythe saidMonday. “Luckily we put ourselves in a position early in the year where these games matter, and we still control our own fate. We’re going to beworking hard thisweek.”
What’sworking: The Rams’ defense is still solid after holding Seattle to 292 yards and 14 fewer plays than LA. The group is No. 1 in the league in yards allowed( 286.5) and third in points ( 19.3). It wasn’t totally dominant against the Seahawks, who made two second- half TD drives. Sebastian Joseph- Day also lamented its inability to force a turnover, butMcVay couldn’t realistically ask for much more than coordinator Brandon Staley’s group is giving.
Whatneedshelp: Explosive plays. The offense averaged only 4.5 yards per snap, andit didn’thave anoffensive play longer than one 26- yard catch by Josh Reynolds. McVay and Goff rarely throw the ball deep, and they’re rarely successful when they do. Without Ake rs’ break away speed in the backfield, Los Angeles has little capacity for game- changing plays.
Stock up: LB Leonard Floyd. The veteran who joined the Rams on a one-year contract sacked Russell Wilson twice to give himself 9 ½ sacks this season, eighth in the NFL. He’s fully capitalizing on the chance to play next to Aaron Donald, and the reward is likely a big payday next spring.
Stock down: The Rams gave the ball away onlyonceagainst Seattle, but itwas anatrocious interception thatGoffcalled “really dumb.” Otherwise, Goff and his receiverswere unable todomuchagainst the NFL’sworst pass defense, managing just 216 net yardspassing despite several big catches by Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. Goff’s offensive line also wasn’t dominant against the Sea hawks’ normally unimpressive pass rush, allowing three sacks and 10 quarterback hurries.
Injured: Goff has never missed a game due to injury in his five- yearNFLcareer. Henderson hasn’t missed a game this season.
Key number: 0— The number of NFL snaps taken by Goff’s backup, John Wolford. He excelled in theAAFin 2019 after leaving Wake Forest in 2017, but the fleet- footed, 6- foot- 1 passer hasn’t received any playing time fromMcVay in two years, even late in a handful of comfortable wins this season.