No, it really wasn’t. The Lions scored 140 pts thru 4 games - 35 points per, most in the league, and were 1-3. One side of the ball was doing its job; the other side wasn’t.
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The question is why?
Couldn’t and wouldn’t, they said. Same thing was said down the stretch of his LA stay, even though just two years earlier the guy had proven himself one of the best deep-ball passers in the league.
Hmmm… maybe the QB hadn’t changed as much as the circumstances around him.
Yes, amazing what having quality receivers can do - and what having an OL that can buy the QB the time can do. Also nice to have a running game that gives teeth to the play action. Goff his last couple years in LA and last year in Detroit had none of the above. Ask Matthew Stafford how that worked out for him.
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I much prefer a balanced under-center play-action attack than the all-shotgun throw every down we watched for most the last decade
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People talk about 2019 and 2020 as if it was atrocious for Goff. He still willed that team to 9 and 10 wins and a playoff run with an O line not much worse than Stafford has now and Kupp out with an achilles. It’s only in comparison to 2017 and 2018 that it looks “bad.”
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We will likely never know. A. Lynn also didn’t have a lot of weapons. Perriman was cut in camp, Ty Williams didn’t even last a game, Cephus lasted about 3 games, and St. Brown was just a kid learning an nfl offense. Ragnow was injured early. Decker was out as well, Sewell was a rook playing LT. So maybe I’m being to harsh on the guy.
Decker came back, and Sewell went to RT around the same time they canned Lynn. Reynolds was also a late season addition.
Good points.
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Farmerted seems to be wearing his “buckeye colored” glasses a little too tight… lol - jk
Jared Goff “IS” what Holmes though he was… He was worth the #1 overall pick in the freaking draft… It’s amazing that Jared Goff managed 28 tds and 7 ints with 3,800 yards in just 15 games as a 22 yr old. He has a 100 plus rating and went 11-4 and then 13-3 in the first 2 years in a new system with McVay-
Let’s not pretend those Rams teams that Goff QB’d in his early Rams days were completely stacked either…
- Robert Woods- 4 years in Buffalo and his he had 699 yards and 5 TDs as his career best year prior to playing with Goff…
- Sammy Watkins- in his first 3 years he had 980, 1,047, and 400 yards (marred by injuries) prior to being traded to LA where he spent 1 year and grabbed 39 catches for 593 yards … He’s never had 700 yards since his 2nd year in Buffalo, and he’s played with Goff, Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Erin Rodgers… so likely not on the QB?
- Kupp… he had a mid round rookie that he connected with on day one, and who he was off to a torrid pace in 2018 with until Kupp was lost to injury midseason… likely a main reason (along with Gurley’s knee) that they didn’t win the SB in 18’
— Rookie Cooper Kupp led the team in yards and was 2nd in TDs!
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Neither young TE (Higbee or Everett) had fully adjusted to the NFL game yet, but Goff got nearly 600 yards out of them…
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The #20 ranked defense wasn’t something he could really rely on…
So in essence the Rams had a solid OL, some newly acquired WRs who weren’t exactly lighting the league on fire, a bad defense and a 2nd year QB…
So we can give somebody else the credit for his 100 plus rating when he was 22 and 23… but he’s the one who was throwing the ball… Just like he will be the guy with nearly 30 TDs and a nearly 100 rating this year despite playing with guy like Benson, Kennedy, Zylstra, Wright, Netflix, etc…
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I think two things changed. One is that Campbell learned, plain and simple. Why wouldn’t a rookie head coach learn as any other rookie learns?
But I think the bigger reason is that the team is better. Specifically, the defensive improvement, combined w/the offensive rebound now that the trench and skill guys are healthier, means that the team has more margin for error. When the defense is as astoundingly awful as it was, I doubt DC had any more faith in it than we did watching at home. The offense scored 140 pts in 4 games and were 1-3. If that doesn’t make a coach want to do desperate s*** I don’t know what would. There were plenty of times early this year when a Lions FG made my heart sink cuz it felt like they needed TDs-only to have a chance.
The Lions’ D is average, at best, right now. But, paired with a top-5 O and above-average special teams play, DC no longer has to take huge risks to try to maximize points. That’s a big part of what’s changed.
I thought acquiring Goff was a good deal. It gave the Lions a starting QB that had experience and had been a starter. I never believed he was a bad QB nor did I believe he was a Mahommes. Most QB’s have trouble when they only have 1 1/2 seconds to find a receiver and throw the ball to them. He is what he is. I was concerned that possibly he didn’t have the arm that would be needed to get the ball down field to Jameson Williams. I was wrong on that seeing the throws to Chark & Williams.
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It’s all good, brother (s).
We’re Lions fans. We have every reason to be jaded
That has changed.
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Goff put on a long ball clinic yesterday. It was a glorious thing to watch.
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Judging from the Slowlights, it was.
Oh, I know. But, certainly, production and results dipped. The question is: why?
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We have 3 receivers that can get downfield, now!
This is about to get real fun!
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I think a healthy okudah probably knocks ~100 yards off that by himself. Still the Lions need 2 more good DBs. I expect Holmes to draft minimum 2 or even 3 through out it.
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I look forward to the apology form for those who said it was “laughable” and “embarrassing” to question the conventional wisdom that Stafford is better than Goff.
But - I know, I know - most of you aren’t there yet.
I’ll wait.
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Exactly. The 2019 Rams Oline lost some key players was rated near last and Goffs play dropped to 62% 4600 yards won 9 games and had the 11th best offense
The 2022 Rams Oline lost some key players and is rated near last and….
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And vice versa. That’s why I think Ben Johnson may not be as hot a head coaching prospect in the near future as some are speculating. He may have the chops for it, but leading a team of grown-ass men demands different talents than the narrower focus of OC, IMO.
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If OA24 could have stayed in the same zip code as the guys he was allegedly guarding, um, ah, that would have helped.
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