In the wake of another weekend of tremendous (or at least passable) performances from NFL rookie quarterbacks, the time for the Los Angeles Rams to sit Jared Goff has officially ended.
That’s not to say Rams head coach Jeff Fisher will actually give Goff the starting nod this week when the team travels to Detroit to take on the hapless Lions. Fisher is still a terrible coach, with even worse gameday judgement. He’s also a coward that has every reason to believe he won’t be coaching in the NFL next season, or ever again.
Question: why isn't @JaredGoff16 starting? If there was a rookie out there, the rookie mistakes would understandable. Ridiculous. #BUFvsLA
— Brought Back the Los Angeles Rams (@LosAngelesRams) October 9, 2016
But when you look at the two Rams’ losses this season, and I have, oh God, I have, it’s clear to see who’s at fault. Fisher and Keenum and to a lesser extent offensive coordinator Rob Boras.
The biggest knock on Boras is his inability to call plays against pressure, especially on third downs. Teams blitz Keenum’s brains out on any third and long down and Boras seems incapable of figuring out how to stop it. On the plus side, he has opened up the offense more, attacked downfield and come up some interesting wrinkles, especially in getting tight end Lance Kendricks involved. Boras has some work to do, but he’s not a lost cause yet.
The same can’t be said for Keenum. Both the Rams’ losses can be hung squarely on his shoulders. The plus side of Keenum was supposed to be how he “didn’t make mistakes,” but it was his stupid pick six against the Buffalo Bills Sunday that gave up the go-ahead score. Against the 49ers in Week One, Keenum threw two picks and had a below 50 percent completion percentage against one of the worst teams in the NFL.
https://twitter.com/justRVB/status/785209871486418944
In the three Los Angeles victories Keenum wasn’t much better. Todd Gurley and the defense beat Tampa Bay, the defense alone beat Seattle and the one decent game Keenum put together, a 17-13 win over the Cardinals, was still mostly a defensive struggle. Keenum made the best pass of his career, a back-shoulder touchdown to Brian Quick in that game to win it. He should get a poster of that moment and hang it in his den. It’s not getting any better.
Lastly, my animosity towards Jeff Fisher should be well known if you’re a regular reader here at Get More Sports, but his bed-shitting Sunday was something altogether spectacular. I can give Fisher a pass for not going for it on fourth-and goal from the four yard-line in the fourth quarter of the Bills game. The Rams needed a field goal and touchdown to win, so it didn’t really matter what order it came in. The defense had shut Buffalo down for the whole second half, so it was a move that could have, and should have, worked.
Jared Goff was the #1 overall pick in this past years draft…. Yet 5 rookies have started at QB this season and he still hasn't.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 9, 2016
Then Fisher decided to Fisher all over himself. Calling a fake punt deep in his own territory that the Bills had sniffed out the day before, he lost the game at that point and his job. His most significant coaching decision of the day was a disaster that everyone in the stadium could see coming. In the postgame press conference, Fisher had the nerve to say this.
“I wouldn’t have called it if I didn’t think it would work,” he said. “That’s how those things are. We practiced it all week. We had the look and it didn’t work. I’ll take that. They executed in practice, they didn’t execute it there. If that thing works, it’s good stuff. It’s really good stuff. It didn’t and they don’t always work. That type of approach in special teams has taken us a long way.”
Jeff Fisher: "I know you guys are curious about the fake punt. I’d do it all over again."
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 11, 2016
Really? A long way??
What’s your definition of a “long way,” Jeff? Because all I’ve seen is 7-and-9 bullshit and that’s in your best years with the Rams. There’s been a 6-and-10 in there too. Case Keenum continuing at quarterback is just coaching to lose. There will never be a better time to start Goff, on the road against a horrible Lions team. But Fisher doesn’t have the balls to do it.
