I think so too. Goff has a really strong arm and can make all the throws. Stafford has crazy arm talent. But like you say Goff is a more accurate passer and I expect to see that as he settles into this new offense with all of these new receivers.
1 Like
Goff also throws a more catchable ball.
2 Likes
Here is my honest thought on that game: are the 49ers going to be good this year?
They didn’t look that good to me. I’d like to think it was because of the Lions, but I don’t think it was.
Don’t get me wrong, they kicked our ass. But I felt like we sort of handed them the game. Especially the atrocious last 2 mins of the half where we threw a pick 6 then stunk it up on the 3 and out, and then committed a personal foul to basically put them in FG range for a 2nd score in like a minute.
1 Like
I’d say Goff’s ceiling is probably in the upper middle tier, if that makes sense.
Below the really special ones like Mahomes, Watson, & Rodgers. Whether he would be near the top of the group of 10-15 QBs that fit that category,imo, depends on all the other stuff- the team around him, the coach/scheme, the health of his key players & his own, etc. That can obviously fluctuate wildly from year to year.
Biggest problem, though, is how the media spins a story from the start & how that color one’s perspective. Nobody believes they are overly influenced by advertising, but they are, no matter how objective they think they are.I’m sure I am no exception but I should say that I wanted Wentz over Goff. Didn’t think either was worth the #1, for that matter. Certainly didn’t like trading up for him.
He won me over in mid -season 2018. It wasn’t the big games like the one vs The Viqueens or the shootout with Mahomes. It was gritty wins, like the on the road @ Seattle & lots of little things in between. There’s a subtle mental toughness to him that I think you have to watch up close for a while to get. I don’t know if he has the smarts to be a Brady, but he has the same resilience & competitive nature.
Would I rather have the next Mahome/ well…duh…but I think he can definitely get the best out of a good well-coached team. Bugs me a bit that he has been cast as this right place/right time Trent Dilfer type & can’t shake it. The Superbowl had a lot to do with it,imo. Compare Wilson’s rep & Goff’s and their actual accomplishments in a team sport. The contrast is bizarre.
Wilson had a solid skill group, a superb D, a stud RB & a much better OL than reported,too; better at runblcking than traditional pass pro but space to run around to set up his passes, not a predictable pocket, was exactly what Wilson needed & they provided it. His pass catchers were also great at the scramble drill, not running routes. So the Ompa Loompa threw a dreadful pick in he EZ to snatch defeat from the beak of victory. The coach gets blamed for the call, Brady gets lionized, no pun intended. A no-name DB is getting supermodel blowies. Widdle Wussell comes out smelling like the Kramer beach cologne , not the dead seagull stink of the real world.As the run game deteriorated & the defense aged, the team success kept bumping a pretty average playoff contender ceiling, but still Wilson is lauded as a great one.
versus:
Goff had NEVER taken a snap under center, never mind called plays or protections, but he grasped a lot of it in one off season to run McVay’s tricksy offense in his first year & made another leap into the second. Then Goff’s stud RB plays on one leg from about game 12, his best WR Kupp is out as well. The wunderkind coach has no counter punch to the 6/1 kryptonite that he’s already seen multiple times that season when they get to the Big Enchilada. Goff hits his WR on the hands twice in the EZ & gets no credit because they get outwrestled both times, Brady’s monstrous TE beeyatch slaps The Rams tiny safety for the break through play of a hitherto blah Brady performance. Goff then throws a bad pick, but it’s aggressive, & The Pats get the ball on their 5 yd line or so with 4 mins to go.The D had played well until then, but they give up 60+ yds on the ground on that clock-eating drive & a field goal puts Goff past redemption & makes him a SB goat for the rest of his career.
And, of course, Brady’s assglow jumps another blinding giga-lumen. No idea if giga-lumen is an actual word; leave me alone, I’m on a bitter roll here. The media/fans & McVay himself made all the right noises about his level of culpability but Goff got shat on & that stank has yet to fade.
Personally, I think he’s a better QB than he was in 2018 in a lot of ways. Remains to be seen if he’ll ever get the chance to translate that into team success. No matter what, I suspect it will always be everyone else who gets the individual credit.
4 Likes
I like the rant and I agree with most of it!
Goff is not the most exciting QB to watch unless in a high scoring shoot out. His movements look awkward at times. He can move around but can’t escape free running defenders.
I think that will forever hold back public opinion until he builds a career like Payton or Brady.
1 Like
He’s gonna be Eli part 2.
Fantastic D, really nice OL, WRs, TEs, RBs, and 2 SB rings.
2 Likes
I really like Goff and the highlight of my season would be watching McVay’s face if Goff & the Lions managed to beat LA. That would be awesome!
But Goff needs to step up his game. I feel like everyone has been waiting for him to step up his game and become a smarter, more cerebral qb. A qb who shows some impressive, nuanced skills at qb.
But, too often, he looks like the same Goff. He misses opportunities (yes, every qb does) & has terrible turnovers (yes, every qb does) and is something like the 20th best qb in a league that is qb driven.
His first half of the 9ers game was bad. He had less than 100 yards even though the Lions had good field position, ok pass blocking, receivers were getting open, and a good running game. Goff’s terrible pick 6 was an important part of why that game was over at half time.
If Goff has many performances like that, Goff probably becomes a career back up because the Lions will HAVE to draft a qb high in the draft. Heading into his 3rd season with a bunch of question marks at qb would be risky for DC.
The good news is that the Lions pass blocking should get better, the 9ers are a good (not great) defense, and I’ve always thought Goff does better with more reps. He started the 2019 & 2020 seasons with shaky first games. He needs to play more in the preseason than he did.
I’m rooting for him, but I really don’t know if Goff has it in him to become a consistently good qb in this league.
Right now is when Matt Stafford turned things around. It was Matt’s 6th season…just like Goff is in his 6th season as well. The end stats of that year were not super impressive. He threw for 4,200 yards with 22 TDs and 12 INTs with 60% completions. But people will tell you that the 6th season was the turning point for Matt that turned him into the QB he is today.
2 Likes
Great point on Goff. I noticed the same thing on the interception. He could have moved up in the pocket and everyone would have gotten pushed behind him. That was a very underrated part of staffords game that I’d love to see Goff improve on. I thought Goff played well in the 4th after a shaky first 3 quarters. Hopefully that gave him some confidence to keep playing at that level. He has the ability to be a really good quarterback. Maybe we don’t fall behind this week by 30 and we can use our running game more.
2 Likes
Honestly I watched that Super Bowl a couple times. If the rams had stafford they win that game. Goff missed or was late on two throws that would have been touchdowns. One got broken up because Goff was late and doesn’t have elite arm strength. The other was way under thrown and intercepted.
1 Like
If Gurley runs for more than 35 yards wouldn’t matter who the QB was.
2 Likes
If you had a quarterback that made the Patriots fear the deep ball gurley probably does run for more than 35 yards.
1 Like
I’m going to assume that in this alternate reality that the fact that Stafford would have cost the Rams several of their high dollar free agent pickups has been factored in. Bye bye Suh.
1 Like
That season the deep ball wasn’t an issue. That’s how the Rams got to the SB.
1 Like
Yeah if they had the QB who has never rose to the occasion in a big game against a winning team they win for sure… 
1 Like
I wasn’t talking about all season. The deep ball was an issue in that particular game. And it effected the way the Patriots played defense. If Goff hits one of those passes it changes the entire game.
Did you actually watch the games? Stafford was far from the problem. Especially against the Saints.
1 Like
Its one of those things that someone either properly remembers or they don’t. The context of the exact situation is important, but most fans can only get into that level of detail about their own team. Without it being “their team” people only tend to process entire season views of other teams…mainly thru stats.
The only way I can think of to get a Lions fan to think critically about that particular moment in time is to remember when we signed CJ Anderson. For anyone trying to sell the signing, what did they say? They said CJ just ran for a bunch of yards in the postseason the year before. Then the money question is…why would a team give more carries to CJ Anderson picked up midseason than Todd Gurley? Particularly in the championship game…where CJ outcarried Todd 16-4? Not only was Gurley a health issue…it was a well known rumor that was verified on the field leading up to the game.
The rule is there so WR’s aren’t running routes through the guys on the sidelines and to keep the play on the field.
There’s a separate rule for the punt team running out of bounds and not trying to get back fast enough.
2 Likes
I watched all the games. I just don’t watch them with the rosy Matty-heart frames on
1 Like