The Los Angeles Rams were just shelled on their home field 55-40 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what was the strangest game of the Sean McVay era. Both the defense and offense share equal blame for the loss, which isn’t normal in a game where the winning side scores 55 points. Here are a few takeaways from Sunday afternoon’s loss at the Coliseum.
The offensive line is a legitimate problem
Jared Goff has been a bit of a turnover machine this season (more on that later). The offensive line is at fault for a good amount of those turnovers, especially in Sunday’s game.
Goff tossed an interception early in the second quarter as a result of Shaquil Barrett getting a hand on the ball. Rob Havenstein was manhandled by Barrett on the play. Later, Goff was blindsided by Barrett once again and coughed up a fumble. Former Ram Ndamukong Suh picked it up and took it to the house to end the game. Havenstein was responsible for the missed block as well.
There were some expected growing pains on the offensive line this season. With Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom replacing veterans Roger Saffold and John Sullivan, you had to expect the line to take some time to get going. Allen and Noteboom have certainly taken their lumps this season, but they’ve done enough to keep the coaching staff confident in them.
The biggest concern is on the outside. You can live with Noteboom and Allen taking time to grow into their roles. It’s expected. But the weakest links on the offensive line against Tampa Bay were Havenstein and Andrew Whitworth. Father Time has been catching up to Whitworth over the past two years, but the veteran tackle made plenty of mental mistakes against Tampa Bay. He was called for multiple penalties and failed to give Goff the protection he needed. It was an unacceptable performance from the team captain.
Then there’s Havenstein, who has looked like a shell of himself through four games this season. He’s been on the wrong side of multiple sacks and has been directly responsible for multiple Goff turnovers. Havenstein has been taken to task by Barrett, Myles Garrett, and Cameron Jordan over the past three weeks. Obviously, those are three of the best pass rushers in the NFL right now, but the Rams need to be able to contain these guys if they want to be playing in February. Havenstein’s performance has been a huge factor in the team’s offensive struggles so far this season.
The offensive line was expected to miss a beat here and there given the inexperienced starters. Rather than missing a few beats, they’re playing an entirely different genre of music, and the lead guitarist forgot how to play guitar. If the poor play continues, the Rams may need to try and acquire some help at the position.
Rams’ defense plays uncharacteristically horrible
Let’s preface this takeaway by noting that the offense was directly responsible for 14 of Tampa Bay’s points. Seven came on Suh’s touchdown, and the other seven was the result the Bucs starting their drive on the Rams’ 9-yard line.
Basically, it’s not as bad as it looks. The Rams didn’t give up 55 points to Jameis Winston and company. They only gave up 41!
There wasn’t an aspect of the defense that shined today. The pass rush produced a couple sacks, but they did not get enough pressure on Winston. John Johnson and Eric Weddle combined for 25 tackles, but the fact that they had to make 25 tackles says all you need to know about how the front seven performed.
The pass coverage was unbelievably horrifying. Weddle and Johnson made plenty of tackles, but they certainly didn’t successfully defend many passes. Aqib Talib and Nickell Robey-Coleman had their worst games of the season in coverage. Marcus Peters had a very Marcus Peters performance, giving up a 67-yard touchdown to Mike Evans and nabbing a pick-six on the following drive.
Hopefully Wade Phillips puts his game plan for this game in an incinerator and we never see it again. Chris Godwin is a very good player, but the Rams made him look like peak Jerry Rice. Ronald Jones would have had about 150 yards if it wasn’t for penalties bringing back his biggest runs. It may have been the worst defensive performance of the Sean McVay era.
Still, the defense had been playing great up until this game. Every team puts up a stinker every once in a while. I’m inclined to believe this game is an anomaly and not a sign of things to come. We’ll see how this defense performs on Thursday night in Seattle.
Historically bad run-pass balance contributed to loss
Goff’s career-high in passing attempts heading into this game was 53. He shattered that record by 15 attempts against Tampa Bay. He completed 45 of his outlandish 68 attempts in the loss.
Todd Gurley’s career low in rushing attempts heading into this game was six. This happened in his first NFL game. He toppled that dubious personal record when he ran the ball just five times against the Bucs. It was the first time Gurley didn’t have double-digit carries since his rookie season.
As a result, the Rams offense was incredibly inefficient and Goff turned the ball over four times in the passing game. The run-pass balance, or complete lack thereof, benefited nobody. Gurley looked the best he had all season, scoring touchdowns on 40% of his rushes and recording more receptions and yards in this game than in his previous three games combined. It was inexcusable for McVay to not even attempt to get the running game going.
The result was Tampa Bay anticipating a predictable Rams passing game and capitalizing with four turnovers. This was an offensive game-plan that should never be implemented again. When you have two very capable running backs, you should be running the ball more than 11 times in a game. It didn’t work against Tampa Bay, and it probably never will.
Goff has not played up to his new contract
The Rams made Goff one of the highest-paid players in NFL history last month. So far, he has failed to live up to the expectations of his new contract this year.
Through four games, Goff has thrown for six touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s had a fumble in every game this season. While some of the turnovers fall more on the offensive line, Goff has had some unforgivably bad interceptions, including a pass against Tampa Bay that looked like he was just trying to give Lavonte David the football.
Goff has had some moments of brilliance this season, and tossed quite a few dimes against the Bucs. But he’s turning the ball over more than he ever has, and he’s missed wide-open receivers on what should have been multiple touchdowns this year. He doesn’t look like the Jared Goff of old.
The poor play of the offensive line probably shoulders some of the blame for Goff’s regression. But Goff has to adapt to the pressure he’s going to receive this season. Through four games, he doesn’t look like a quarterback capable of leading the Rams back to the Super Bowl. Something has to change.
