For the past two years, fans in Los Angeles have been treated to creativity and explosiveness on offense led by Pro Bowlers Jared Goff and Todd Gurley. This season has been very different for the Rams, who are coming off one of their worst performances under Sean McVay.
They scored just seven points, didn’t convert a single third or fourth down and passed for 78 yards against the 49ers on Sunday, causing some legitimate panic among fans. Those inside the building in Thousand Oaks aren’t sounding the alarms just yet, but the Rams’ regression on offense is startling, to say the least.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked every offense in the NFL and the Rams came in at No. 23 – the 10th-worst in football.
This may be a surprise to some, but the Sean McVay-led Rams are among the bottom 10 offenses in the NFL. Quarterback Jared Goff has produced 12 turnover-worthy plays (the second-most) and ranks among the five worst quarterbacks in negatively graded pass rate. Goff spending 43.3% of his dropbacks under pressure doesn’t help matters, either. This once highly touted Rams offensive line currently ranks 31st in PFF pass-blocking grade and 27th in run-blocking grade.
The offensive line is the biggest weakness in Los Angeles, as evidenced by PFF’s write-up. Goff is under constant pressure every week, and it doesn’t help that starting left guard Joseph Noteboom tore his ACL and MCL last week, giving way to rookie David Edwards as a starter.
The Rams still have time to turn things around and get back to their ways of 2017 and ’18, but that’ll be difficult to do if the offensive line doesn’t find its groove.
