LOS ANGELES — Three weeks earlier, needing a touchdown to tie against the Washington Redskins, Jared Goff stared down Cooper Kupp on a quick out and threw a game-ending interception on his first snap. On Sunday, though, Goff did a masterful job looking off Earl Thomas, the Seattle Seahawks‘ Pro Bowl safety who was trying to bait him. It helped set Kupp free on a post route near the end zone, and Goff delivered a tight, accurate throw that could’ve given his Los Angeles Rams a big division win.
Kupp couldn’t come up with what would’ve been a sensational catch, but Goff might have shown something, late in what was mostly a sluggish performance: He can actually put together a winning drive.
Trailing by six, with just over a minute left, no timeouts remaining and the ball at his own 25, Goff completed a 35-yard pass to tight end Tyler Higbee, then completed a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Robert Woods two plays later, spiking the ball to stop the clock at 35 seconds with the ball on the Seahawks’ 20. Goff then threw a deep pass incomplete to Gurley on the far sideline, then just barely missed his connection with Kupp and went to him again on fourth down, but Seattle had it well defended the second time.
He had a better mindset going into this drive.
“I came into this one knowing that we had the dudes to do it, and knowing that we’ve got everything we want,” Goff said after a mistake-laden 16-10 loss. “Just read the play out and make plays and try to get the balls to the playmakers. The two long completions we had were great routes, and I was able to get them the ball. It builds a little bit of confidence, for sure. But by no means are we satisfied with the way that it ended.”
Goff entered this game with an NFL-leading 9.2 yards per attempt and a solid 112.2 quarterback rating. But he struggled. The 22-year-old threw a couple of second-half interceptions, one a high throw to Gurley on a screen and the other an airmailed pass to no man’s land in the middle of the field. Later, with the ball near midfield, Goff took a sack from Frank Martin and fumbled, giving him three turnovers for the game — two more than he had in the first four games combined.
The Rams, though, still moved the ball. They gained 375 yards from scrimmage, 134 more than the victorious Seahawks. But they scored only three points on four red-zone trips and could not capitalize on key touchdown opportunities.
Goff finished 22-of-47 for 288 yards.
ESPN Stats & Information had him throwing 16 off-target passes, the most of his career and the most by any player this season.
“I think there was a couple uncharacteristic decisions that he did make,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “When you play an excellent front like that, they cause some disruption. They got to him and they forced some of those errant throws and got some turnovers. But that’s what great defenses do. They made enough plays. What I respect about Jared is he made a couple big-time throws at the end, gave ourselves a chance to try to tie that game up and then see if we kick the extra point to win. But we didn’t get it done. They did, and we make no excuses.”