Aside from a horrendous performance against the Miami Dolphins in Week 8, Jared Goff was having a pretty solid season. In the first seven games, he had 12 touchdowns and four interceptions, with a completion rate of 67.7% and only two fumbles (zero lost).
One of his biggest strengths before the Rams’ Week 9 bye was working off play action. He was among the NFL’s best in that department, at one point leading the league in yards off play action.
But that has changed dramatically. As NFL Research pointed out on Twitter, Goff’s play-action production has fallen off a cliff. He has no touchdowns and three interceptions on play action since Week 10, with a passer rating of only 44.4.
From Weeks 1-8, he had six touchdowns and no interceptions, posting a stellar passer rating of 115.7. So what’s changed? A lot of his play-action throws have come from within the pocket now, rather than on the move outside the tackle box.
Jared Goff has struggled on play-action passes since the Rams Week 9 bye per @NextGenStats. One tendency the Rams have gotten away from is rolling Goff out on play action. In Weeks 1-4, 28% of play-action attempts came from outside the tackle box. That's down to 19% since Week 5. pic.twitter.com/mVpF3YHr7S
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) December 1, 2020
If you look at the numbers, too, you’ll notice that Goff is throwing downfield more often off play action than he was in the first half of the year. That will obviously lead to a decrease in completion percentage and an uptick in interceptions.
Play action became the bread and butter of the Rams offense early in the season, but with Goff struggling on such plays and the rushing attack no longer performing at an exceptionally high level, play action isn’t working as well as it was previously.
