Interesting enough, Goff and Stafford had very similar seasons.
2020 Goff - 3952 pass yds, 20 pass TD’s, 13 INTs, with 99 yds rushing and 4 rush TD’s.
2014 Stafford - 4257 pass yds, 22 pass TD’s, 12 INTs, with 93 yds rushing and 2 rush TD’s.
Also, can’t really say the D didn’t have some talent, Ndamukong Suh may have been the most feared defender in the league at the time.
To put a button on the Reggie Bush topic, Reggie was amazing for the Lions in 2013. 1006 rushing yards and a 4.5 YPC average to go with 506 receiving yards on 54 catches in 14 games. 7 total TDs. 2014 Reggie stunk compared to 2013. Just over 500 combined yards and 2 total TDs.
The 2013 team was a total letdown as the D on paper was solid as was the O. That 2013 Lions team finished 7-9 despite being 13th on points scored and 15 in defensive points allowed. Matt’s rating at the end of that season was 84.2 and Matt’s 2012 rating for that season was 79.8.
Goff’s rating are as follows:
2016: 63.6 (better than Stafford’s rookie rating).
2017: 100.5
2018: 101.1
2019: 86.5
2020: 90
Throwing out each guys rookie season Goff has been MUCH better than Stafford in terms of rating through the first five years of each guys carer. Has Goff’s surrounding cast been better on offense? RB has been better but overall I guess I say yes but not by that much. Matt has had weapons (not enough though) and Calvin, Burleson, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones Jr. and Kenny Golladay. Goff has never had a deep monster receiver as Watkins and Cooks are no where clos to as good as Calvin or Kenny. Hell, some folks want Marvin Jones Jr. to sign with the Rams NOW!!!
I am bullish as hell on Goff as his experience level is high and he has performed well all things considered. He needs to tweak his game and his coach gave up on him and bought our starting QB from us while giving is a LOT to take his cast off. Jared is six+ years younger that Matt.
If the Rams stay healthy they could again be very good on offense. But growing pains are likely. And they need a deep threat. And their budget is limited to be kind. I think they have a window with Stafford but there are serious concerns. Matt isn’t Tom Brady but he is really, really good. For example, can Matt straight up ball as a QB playing with a lead? Can be be a game manager when necessary making plays when needed but not HAVING to score points late? He hasn’t been in that situation often. That will be fun to watch,
they need to go get a winning records 1st.
Home they play
Hawks
49ers
Az
TB
Bears
Jags
Tenn
Lions … maybe 3-4 solid wins at this point of the OS
Away they play
Hawks
49ers
Az
Giants
Packers
Vikes
Texans
Colts … maybe 3-4 solid wins
They have their work cut out
I’d like to see if Matt can get a lead and play good while holding a lead. It always seemed like he was either playing from behind against soft defenses trying to pull-out last-minute wins or it changed under MP to building a lead and losing it later or losing the game at the end.
I think Akers and Henderson are a decent RB pair but definitely not anything spectacular. I think their O-line is worse than ours.
This article’s headline says that getting Stafford makes them a Superbowl favorite…the Chiefs are favored to win the Superbowl, followed by the Bucs, Packers, Bills, Ravens, and then the Rams.
I wouldn’t put any money on the Rams to win the Superbowl but I’d bet against them winning the Superbowl, there’s no way they can hang with the best teams in the NFL.
A few years ago (during Caldwells tenure) I debunked this thought process. I used PFR premium stats and broke down Stafford’s stats by quarter and then compared him to Brady, Brees, Rogers, Big Ben, and Ryan.
I used a 6 year block of Stats from 2017 - 2012
In the process I debunked two claims being made at the time.
I found that Staffords stats per quarter were on par with all 5 of the QB’s he was compared to. Also that his yards gain in the 4th quarter were on par with the other QB’s and his stats in round one were better than all the other QB’s but Rogers.
Funny thing was that Stafford was better than all of them in the 3rd Quarter. And every fan always claimed the Lions failed to adjust at half time. Stafford’s worst quarter wasn’t the first it was the 2nd quarter. And he gained no more yards in garbage time than any other QB I compared him too.
Stafford had actually passed for more yards and TD’s in the first half than he had in the 2nd half.
Mainly because of his strong 1st quarter.
Stafford had the 2nd best QB rating in the 4th Quarter though. Only Rogers was more efficient.
If you took the time to break him down you’ll find that most claims made against him by fans are false.
Well then it will be interesting to see how the Rams do.
It was cool to see those gifs. Stafford is definitely better than Goff. Rams are far from favorites in my book right now due to just 1 move. Certain candidates to reach the promised land.
Imo the biggest and most interesting story is how does McVay change the offense with Stafford there? A lot of failures in the last 2 years were McVay’s fault as the league adjusted far better than he did. Although there’s nowhere to go but down when you’re at the top. From there it’ll be interesting to see how well Stafford performs and if the results lead to W’s.
Yeah I’m kinda looking forward to it myself. The Rams are a relatively young team.
That OL for the Rams is my biggest concern. Especially with the fact that they could lose two starters on it. I’m curious to see how they handle that.
Another thing is the Rams use the shot gun less than any team in the NFL. This might be because Goff was better under center. With Stafford who is excellent out of the Gun I’m curious to see if they will use the shotgun more. This might help in pass protection and hurt the run game if they do.
I honestly like their WR’s for Stafford. He’s never had two WR’s who can get that kind of separation in the short to medium pass ranges. I wouldn’t be shock to see them go shot gun quick strike offense. But I feel they need a guy who is good at contested catches and stretching the field. Marvin Jones maybe.
Here’s my issue with the Rams. Their replacement for Staley has all of five games as an NFL DC and his defenses gave up 32 points per game and didn’t win a single game.
That defense will regress. How much is the question.
Staley had zero experience before he got the job. And raheem morris is a good, experienced coach. Sure he only has a year as a coordinator… but he’s been a long time top level assistant and a 2 time head coach.
[quote=“CuriousHusker, post:29, topic:9277”]
That defense will regress. How much is the question
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They could lose Leonard Floyd and John Johnson as well. Their LT could be a cap casualty. But at some point they have to get younger and cheaper at LT most think that happens this year. Also their OC is a free agent but an upgrade there my be a goal.
I suspect they will be looking to free up cap space so they could look to do some restructuring. But it doesn’t look like they will have a ton of cap room to play with.
Is he a good coordinator though? Traits that allow a position coach to excel are not the same needed at DC. Many handle the promotion well. Some don’t. I don’t doubt that Morris is a solid leader of men but does he have the instinct of a great DC?
We only have a small sample size but the results were atrocious. His unit was a complete tire fire during that five game stretch. They were off the charts bad. He coached a league worst defense while in the DC spot. So they’re going from last years top performing DC to perhaps the worst of 2020 (though Cory Undlin is right up there).
They did the same last year with offensive coordinator. They got the offensive coordinator from the 32 ranked offense in Washington and made him their OC. It seems the only coach McVay thinks matters is himself. I’m not sure that’s ever worked with anyone besides Belicheck.
I think it matters less on offense bc of McVey. And they’ll still be good on D. Hard not to excel with Aaron Donald. But it won’t shock
me if the drop from first on D to tenth or something along those lines.
I think talent is a much bigger factor and the Rams have talent on defense.
As long as the coach isn’t a jack ass and pissing everyone off. You give him talent and they will perform.
A good coach is a leader first. If players respect him they listen.
I think the Rams defense will be fine because they have a ton of talent. But they could lose some key figures. I think who they lose and who they gain as players makes a bigger difference.