The Los Angeles Rams made it all the way to the Super Bowl last season. Due to that, big things were expected from them.
The same can be said for quarterback Jared Goff. He set career-highs in completion percentage (64.9%), passing yards (4,688) and passing touchdowns (32) in 2018. Those numbers put him to the next level.
Suddenly, expectations were high for Goff. Could he become one of the best quarterbacks in the league? It seemed like might be trending that way.
Instead, Goff and the Rams took a nosedive in 2019.
The Rams went 9-7 and did not make the playoffs. Not a bad record, but it was a major step back from the prior season.
Meanwhile, Goff took a step back in every category, and some of them were troubling.
The quarterback completed 62.9% of his passes for 4,638 yards. So far, not that big of changes. However, he also threw just 22 touchdowns compared to 16 interceptions. Throw in the 10 fumbles (and two rushing touchdowns) and he had more turnovers than touchdowns.
There were some positives too though. Did they outweigh the negatives though? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of Goff's 2019 season.
Pros
Despite injuries to the offense, Goff was still able to maintain a solid completion percentage and throw for a ton of yards. In fact, his 4,638 yards were the third most in the NFL this season.
Speaking of injuries, Goff was working with a makeshift offensive line at times. Despite that, he was only sacked 22 times. You could argue that is due to the line still playing well or the play designs. But it also shows he was able to stay on his feet and get rid of the ball quickly.
There is also the fact that Goff had four games in the 2019 season with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Cons
That being said, all four of those games came against teams that aren't exactly world beaters when it comes to defense. Two were against the Arizona Cardinals, one was against the Cincinnati Bengals and the other was against the Atlanta Falcons. Those three teams were ranked 32nd, 29th and 20th in total yards allowed. And none of them were great at intercepting the ball either.
Goff also had three games with at least one interception but no touchdowns. That's not great, especially in such a high-powered offense.
The fact that he ranked tied for 16th in touchdown passes and had the fourth most interceptions in the entire NFL.
What might be the biggest con however is the trust. A lot of fans lost trust in Goff this year, right after he signed that mega-deal. You could say this was a down season or just a rough patch. But the timing was simply terrible.
He signed that deal and suddenly looked like that rookie Goff again. There were bad passes, poor reads, and he definitely seems confused by defensive schemes often. That's not something you want from your franchise quarterback in his fourth season in the NFL.
All hope certainly is not lost with Goff. There is a lot to like about him. In 2019 the cons grossly outweighed the pros though. That needs to change in 2020 or we'll have to have a different discussion, about the Rams moving on.
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