NFL
Addressing the Matthew Stafford Hype and Who Was to Blame in the Jared Goff Trade
The Amateurs look at how Matthew Stafford will fit into the Rams system and how Rams fans should trust head coach Sean McVay after this decision and his imperfect game plan.
The blockbuster trade that started this wild offseason became official on March 17, 2021 as the new league year officially began. In short, months ago during one calm, quiet morning in the Indonesia time zone where some people were still processing their dreams in their bed, Adam Schefter announced that the Rams had traded away two future first round picks in 2022 and 2023 and former starting quarterback Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The Rams broke the quarterback market for the second time after they paid Jared Goff to be one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league. Jared Goff is a former first overall pick the Rams drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft and apparently, the last first round pick the Rams since then. In most NFL discussions, it appears that the first round picks are more valuable than in other leagues’ drafts. But how much will the absence of future first round picks in the Rams draft capital affect the team moving forward?
That wasn’t the only question that came to mind when Adam Schefter’s tweet popped up. The other was, why Jared Goff? It was only three years ago that the Rams went to the Super Bowl and one of the reasons was then 24-year-old Jared Goff played like a cold-blooded young sharpshooter, especially in that controversial NFC Championship ending.
Ignoring that no-call, Jared Goff led the Rams in cutting a 13-point deficit in front of a clamorous crowd in attendance at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Winning over one of the highest scoring teams in the league that year in their own home with a very accurate Jared Goff really established him as one of the most promising young stars in the league. He was the smoothest quarterback to watch when he was in sync with his offense and his offensive line protected him well. But only three years after that, everything seemed to be crumbling away.
The quarterback that got the huge contract two years ago turned out to be a flash in the pan. After multiple interviews with the Rams head coach and general manager duo, Sean McVay and Les Snead, especially after losing to the Green Bay Packers in divisional round playoffs, it came to sense that they both were not satisfied with the Rams quarterback condition.
During the 2020 regular season, Jared Goff committed 14 turnovers alone and he contributed to 74% of the Rams’ turnover total. The dissatisfaction was more than clear when McVay was thrilled to announce that he would start backup quarterback John Wolford in Week 17 versus the Arizona Cardinals in place of Goff who was still in recovery after a thumb surgery.
Jared Goff’s mobility and takeaways
When John Wolford started, it was an uncommon sight to come from a Rams quarterback. He was fearless, he can take a hit, and he can find space outside the pocket to throw the ball from, something that Goff rarely did in the last two years. He was the first quarterback in the NFL to throw more than 200 yards and rushed more than 50 yards in his first NFL start. Jared Goff’s mobility was always a major concern considering Sean McVay relies heavily upon him to keep the drive alive.
Since Goff’s best game of the 2020 season versus the Bills, which the Rams lost, he couldn’t maintain the same pace again. Since that game, Jared Goff committed a whopping 19 turnovers, only Carson Wentz, who had been struggling last season, had more takeaways than Goff. In some games in the 2020 season, the defense carried the whole team while the offense couldn’t do anything besides turning the ball over and putting the team in jeopardy.
It was a no brainer that Sean McVay openly criticized Jared Goff for his inability to take better care of the football. After his superb game against the Bills, Jared Goff seemed to fall apart with his inability to take care of the football and drive the offense to score more points. Perhaps it had to do with the running back option, when ex-Rams Todd Gurley was barely targeted in 2019 and was gone by 2020.
But when Cam Akers emerged as the Rams lead back in the latter part of 2020, Jared Goff couldn’t utilize Akers properly thus amplifying McVay’s frustration over the weeks. With all the struggles he had as the 2020 season moved towards the end, Matthew Stafford provided some things that Jared Goff can’t display in his current struggle.
How can Stafford fit in the Rams system?
Per Ted Nguyen via The Athletic, Sean McVay was superb with his play action concept. When Jared Goff was still under center, McVay’s play calling was mostly play-action and short yardage plays to let the Rams wide receiver duo Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp to gain some yardage after catch plays. Woods and Kupp were top ten in 2020 in YAC attempts and yards.
Matthew Stafford is very good with the deep ball. While at the Detroit Lions, Stafford had deep threat receivers in Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, who are well-suited to catch balls thrown deep. Stafford often forces the deep ball with his pure arm talent and annihilates opposing defensive backs with his big plays.
With Stafford, the options that McVay has are now wide open, with the possibility of RPO plays being added to the playbook. Matthew Stafford has a pure rocket of an arm and an ability to read defense very well that allows the Rams to do something different with their offense, something that Jared Goff can barely offer. And now he can work his magic in the company of Woods, Kupp, Van Jefferson, newly-acquired DeSean Jackson, rookie second-rounder Tutu Atwell, and the tantalizing checkdown pass target Cam Akers.
Matthew Stafford is a borderline top ten quarterback
Stafford is ranked slightly out of the NFL top ten quarterbacks, ranked 11 or 12 by analysts last season. Stafford is proven to be tough, and he is mostly famous for his durability and toughness, but don’t forget how talented he is. He always plays great and sturdy, but aside from having Calvin Johnson, the Detroit Lions held him back from winning for most of his 12-year career. It’s normal to see Stafford throw a beautiful deep ball to his receivers, or a Mahomes-esque no-look pass. His arm strength is staggering. Stafford is arguably the most overlooked quarterback in this decade.
Stafford is very resilient, as he proved when he led the Lions comeback against the Browns with a separated shoulder during his rookie season. His eagle eye in reading the defense will provide so many options for McVay to tear down the opposition’s defense. With the Rams, provided with great supporting casts in arguably a top ten defense, an outstanding receiver corps, a good offensive line and a great running game, Stafford can deliver the talent that people expected him to be. That’s how Stafford can fit in the Rams’ system, but how much of a fit is Sean McVay to Stafford’s skillsets?
McVay’s system is not that perfect
There was a time when the Rams were a solid contender in the NFC last season. By that time, the Rams were 9–4 and on the verge of winning NFC West, even possibly the whole NFC as the first seed. That narrative suddenly crumbled into pieces as the Rams struggled against the winless Jets and got swept by bitter rival the San Francisco 49ers. So the question is, is it really true that Jared Goff held back the Rams from winning more games?
Apparently, there’s an error in McVay’s system too and not all the blame can be put on Goff. In all six losses in the 2020 season, spectators can predict how the game will end for the Rams right from the beginning of each game. When the Rams were trailing in all those losses, the offense couldn’t get their stuff together.
They were stuck in McVay’s system and couldn’t do anything against the opponent’s defense. And McVay can’t seem to figure it out, despite his 37–0 record when leading in the first half. McVay also had some questionable play calls in those losses. Like the 2019 season, in some games which the Rams comfortably won, McVay’s gameplay seemed to be perfectly executed. But in all the losses the Rams suffered, they almost never lose in a respectable way, except for the loss against the Bills. This means McVay’s gameplan totally failed and the opponent can predict everything the Rams wanted to do. In the Dolphins game, McVay was too late to adjust to the Dolphins’ defensive front and forced too many play-action calls.
McVay is often panicked and can’t adjust well when the Rams are struggling in the first drive, or the first quarter. Even when Cam Akers was available, he couldn’t utilize him well and all the game plans were bogged down by McVay’s in-game playcalling. Super Bowl LIII is the perfect example of how McVay was outsmarted by Bill Belichick while the Rams scored the lowest points ever in Super Bowl history, tied with the 1971 Miami Dolphins. That should be a big lesson to him, especially to experience it in the biggest game of his career. As the head coach of a team that is aiming for a Super Bowl, McVay should adapt and keep improving, even when many people call him an offensive genius right now.
Los Angeles is in a ‘Super Bowl or bust’ mode
The Rams are obviously all in to win the Super Bowl soon because it’s now or never for this current roster. Many teams have also followed suit. The Seattle Seahawks gave up their two first rounders for Jamal Adams, and they seemed to be doing fine as well. They won the NFC West despite ending up being slaughtered by the Rams in the first round of playoffs.The Rams gave up the 2020 and 2021 first round picks for Jalen Ramsey and became a top defense this season.
Homework for the Rams
It was a total surprise that the Rams traded for Stafford before any other team did. It was fantastic how the front office responded to McVay’s concern of the quarterback position and made a very bold move with an absolutely upgrade in terms of talent in Matthew Stafford. If this move by the Rams is compared with other quarterback-needy franchises like the New England Patriots, the San Francisco 49ers, or the Chicago Bears; the Rams absolutely took action much quicker and more precisely.
This trade showed that this organization is serious about bringing a championship to Los Angeles as the city of champions. This trade seemed like a bargain because the Rams don’t actually need first-round picks any time soon. They can draft well in the middle rounds of the draft and land steals such as Cam Akers or Van Jefferson. The homework now is about how the Rams’ defense can keep rolling as the top defense in the NFL with the departure of former defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to the Los Angeles Chargers as a head coach and some key players such as signal-caller John Johnson and cornerback Troy Hill.
Moreover, the departure of center Austin Blythe to the Kansas City Chiefs added an most important task Les Snead should solve as soon as possible, since the NFL Draft already unfolded and the Rams didn’t draft any center, a position that was loaded with good prospects in this year’s class. Rams fans will hope the Stafford trade works well, and that the Rams’ front office are right with this win-now mentality while giving up the short-term future. With some minor improvements over Sean McVay’s playcalling, a second Super Bowl run in four years is not an impossible goal.
Bambang Irawan is The Amateurs Los Angeles Rams beat writer. Fell in love with that blue-yellow throwback jersey and the sketched yellow horn in their helmet, and fell in love with the team itself later just right before the Super Bowl LIII. You can find me on Medium and Twitter: @bamirawann.
