[R4L]

[/zn/]

Getting back to the weather. Mid/upper 20s with minimal wind is not a California beach but what makes Chicago so tough is the wind, espcially when it comes off Lake Michigan.

I grew up near Chicago and a mid/upper 20 degree night with no real wind is not horrible vs a 35/40 degree day with a 15 MPH lake wind. You get all that gear and adrenaline and sideline heaters and coats etc and they should be fine including Goff. If he comes out with gloves on I’ll be very concerned.

I lived in Chicago a couple of different times. I remember that wind. I live in Maine now, and I take the weather here over the weather there.

[BuiltRamTough]

I rather have Goff in normal weather then Goff in cold weather, wearing gloves. He’s not the same dude in the cold.

Maybe he could change the narrative after Sunday night..

[/zn/]

Jared Goff looks for bounce-back effort as Rams prepare for frigid Chicago and Bears’ hot defense

RICH HAMMOND

https://www.dailynews.com/2018/12/05/ja ... t-defense/

THOUSAND OAKS – The Gloved One – Jared Goff, not Michael Jackson – might be making an appearance in Chicago, one week after a performance that certainly did not seem worthy of an encore.

Based on the standards he has set this season, with stellar overall play, Goff looked strikingly bad in last Sunday’s victory at Detroit, as he completed 17 of 33 attempts for 205 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Now, Goff must prepare for a tenacious Chicago opponent and challenging elements.


Goff must contend not only with Bears linebacker Khalil Mack but with temperatures that likely will drop into the low 20s for a Sunday-night game. Goff will try to heat up after last week’s tepid performance.


“Many reasons,” Goff said Wednesday when asked about the Rams’ offensive struggles. “Many reasons, and something that I’ll look to improve on (is) to try to keep taking care of the ball. That’s something that I really looked at myself at, and I need to do a better job of that, get better and move on.”

It’s probably fair to toss out Goff’s game against Detroit, even with some surprising miscues, which included a way-off interception, plus two other near-interceptions in the fourth quarter, and a fumble. The Rams looked out of sync after their bye, and the Lions’ defense didn’t get enough credit for a solid game.

The Rams, thanks in large part to Aaron Donald, claimed a 30-16 victory, but twice, on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter, Lions defenders got their hands on passes that would have been easy pick-six plays. Goff rarely looked comfortable in the pocket and had his lowest yards-per-attempt average (6.27) of the season, as well as his second-lowest quarterback rating (68.6).

“I think he did a good job of making plays when he had to make them,” pass-game coordinator Shane Waldron said. “Obviously there were a couple throws he might want to take back, but it’s a tough position, where those split-second decisions are made every game. His ability to stay (calm) and collected when things don’t go perfectly during the game, that has such a positive effect on the rest of our offense and the rest of our team.”

Coach Sean McVay also pointed out that Goff audibled out of some pass plays that led to big Todd Gurley runs. So the issue going forward is not Goff’s ability to bounce back. His personality and the Rams’ solid coaching make that easy. It’s those freezing temperatures that could be problematic.

Goff’s other truly poor game this season was the Rams’ narrow Oct. 14 victory at Denver. It snowed lightly before the game, and kickoff temperature was 25 degrees, with a wind chill of 18.


Goff, a Northern California native long accustomed to warm-weather games, (quite reasonably) wore gloves during the game and completed 14 of 28 attempts for 201 yards and one interception. It was Goff’s only game this season without a touchdown pass, with season-lows in yards and completion percentage.


In a recent social-media question-and-answer session, Goff said the Broncos’ defense was the toughest to dissect that he has faced this season, so perhaps his struggles weren’t entirely related to weather.

The Rams put that game in the hands of Gurley, who rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns, but now the Rams face a Bears defense that allows only 3.7 yards per carry (second-best in the NFL).

Goff, presumably, will need to make some plays against the Bears, even if it’s freezing, and even in the Sahara desert, he wouldn’t have an easy time with Mack, the 2016 NFL defensive player of the year. The Rams were scheduled to face Mack in the season opener, but a few days before, Oakland traded him to Chicago.

“He’s a great player. Obviously, been great for a long time,” Goff said. “It’ll be fun. I’m excited to get the chance to compete against him. He’s a great player and it’ll be a good challenge for us, but we’re ready.”

Mack has nine sacks, which ranks fifth among NFL linebackers this season, and the bigger issue for Goff is that Mack has forced five fumbles, second only to Kansas City’s Dee Ford (with six).

Ball security seems to be an increasing issue for Goff. In his first 10 games this season, Goff fumbled four times but didn’t lose any of them. Last week against Detroit, he suffered a strip-sack fumble that the Lions recovered, and in his previous game against Kansas City, Goff lost two fumbles.

“At times, stuff may slip up through the season,” Goff said. “You may get, I don’t know if lazy is the right word, but you just kind of forget about some things. It’s just making sure you’re conscious of it and thinking of it at all times. Just getting stuff at practice, working on it and just always thinking about it.”

Overall, though, it’s been a stellar season for Goff, who ranks fourth with 3,754 yards, sixth with 27 touchdowns and has thrown only seven interceptions in 414 attempts. With another 51 yards and two touchdowns, he will surpass his totals from 2017, when he made the Pro Bowl.

[/zn/]

On Goff’s 2 off games, Denver & Detroit

1. RICH HAMMOND: In a recent social-media question-and-answer session, Goff said the Broncos’ defense was the toughest to dissect that he has faced this season, so perhaps his struggles weren’t entirely related to weather.

2. Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore

Goff looked rattled and took some hits. Was it the coverage that confused him? He threw some questionable passes.

They were doing some different things defensively coverage wise and pressure wise. I think that plus the long lay off all contributed

[Elmgrovegnome]

In the Reddit chat Goff was asked which was the toughest defense he has faced this year. He said the toughest defense that he faced was the Broncos, because they threw a lot of different stuff at them and it was difficult to play against. Or something to that affect.

My point is that if so, the cold weather wasn't the reason for the Rams only scoring 23 against Denver.



Edit: Nevermind I guess I should have read all the way through before I posted.

[PARAM]

Well the comments after that game won't change no matter what happens. I mean remember, when it was said that "at this point" (a while back) he didn't have much in the way of comeback wins, the response was that comeback wins don't mean anything and paying attention to them is silly (that stuff stopped after it was clear that he was 50% in comeback situations...then, that stuff wasn't silly anymore).

In terms of how Goff will actually look, loaded discussions of it aside, I don't see any scenario where he can be seriously questioned.

Personally I don't like to measure a guy game by game by game. Each game is taking place inside a larger picture. You have to be realistic about each game, but at the same time there is the larger picture.

For me the larger picture includes this.

First, good qbs have had off games---I just did the numbers for Brees in 2004. They have more of them early in their careers, it seems, and fewer of them when they are more seasoned. That guarantees nothing when it comes to Goff but it is a reminder that off games are not always these heavy warning signs.

Second, I look at Goff's career overall. He came through in the longrun at Cal in spite of them having nothing around him and the whole team starting out badly his first year. He has bounced back from off games in 2017 and 2018 and he has never had more than 2 off games in a row. For example, 2 games after Denver he threw 3 TDs against GB in spite of being sacked 5 times. Those kinds of tendencies are "have em or you don't" quality and I think it's clear he has em.

If he doesn't play well on the road against the Bears D, I am not going to start having doubts about his upward trajectory. He would need to have a few in a row like that before I even entertain that thought.

If he plays well in Chicago then I wouldn't say the story is over. I would say that he can still become more consistent across long stretches but that doing well against the Bears is a very very good sign. I just think his trajectory is real and that as far as he has come so far, he already shows he has it in him to be even better.

I actually expect the Rams to be up for this game the way they really weren't for Detroit. There's HFA, there's it being a national game, there's Detroit to make up for, there's the sense that now's the time to peak.

So cleft notes of that 500+ word report:

Goff is good and will get better
He's young and he will gain more experience
Judging him game by game isn't as good as judging him season by season
The Chicago game, good or bad, really isn't a barometer of Goff's development or indication of what point he's at in his development.

I think many might concur with those points. After all he was 11-4 last year and will have a better record this season.

I'm not worried about cold weather in Chicago or good defenses on the road. I'm just hoping he can win in the postseason because currently, he's not going to have to worry about the cold or the road when the postseason arrives. But of course that'll bring a completely new discussion.

[/zn/]

In the Reddit chat Goff was asked which was the toughest defense he has faced this year. He said the toughest defense that he faced was the Broncos, because they threw a lot of different stuff at them and it was difficult to play against. Or something to that affect.

My point is that if so, the cold weather wasn't the reason for the Rams only scoring 23 against Denver.



Edit: Nevermind I guess I should have read all the way through before I posted.

I appreciate you posting that. It's useful to see that 2 different guys saw it the same way. The extension of what Goff was saying is that Detroit did something similar. Spielman was all over that during the game and pointing out things the Lions were doing on defense the Rams weren't used to. I think that gets down to Goff not being experienced enough yet to be at the "has seen it all" level of the true veteran qb.

Anyway as said before even. Brees and Brady have off days--which means, of course, that all qbs do--- but with more experience, days like that with Goff will be fewer and further between.

[/zn/]

So cleft notes of that 500+ word report:

Goff is good and will get better
He's young and he will gain more experience
Judging him game by game isn't as good as judging him season by season
The Chicago game, good or bad, really isn't a barometer of Goff's development or indication of what point he's at in his development.

I think many might concur with those points. After all he was 11-4 last year and will have a better record this season.

I'm not worried about cold weather in Chicago or good defenses on the road. I'm just hoping he can win in the postseason because currently, he's not going to have to worry about the cold or the road when the postseason arrives. But of course that'll bring a completely new discussion.

It's Cliff Notes btw.

One part to add is that of the 6 subpar games he's had both years combined the Rams won 4 of them.

Why all this interest in the Chicago game? Other than the fact that it's the next game. I think they already have a 1st round bye. The 3 games after the Bears look pretty winnable. So obviously beating the Bears would go a long way to securing HFA throughout the post-season.

[dieterbrock]

I appreciate you posting that..

Lol. That was posted in this thread yesterday. Just goes to show you don't pay attention, only concerned with spinning your nonsense....