Jared Goff discreetly leads Rams to a 3-0 start



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LOS ANGELES – The Black Range Rover is heading towards the road connecting the northwest corner of the Coliseum to the City of Angels, crawling along what was left of the friends and family section at the end of the locker room tunnel. The man in the passenger's seat was clearly in a hurry on Sunday night, when a short week had officially begun, but suddenly the car stopped and the tinted window on the driver's side stooped to reveal the hottest face of the car. NFL. young coach.

"Your son bloated Today, "said Sean McVay, pointing to a smiling man next to an adjacent fence, as Jerry Goff accepted the praise of his son Jared, the Los Angeles Rams' third-year quarterback, the proud Dad felt compelled to pay respects the prodigy of the game who is the NFL's year coach.

"He's lucky to have you," Goff told McVay.

"I feel like that about him"Replied McVay.



Seconds later, McVay's girlfriend, Veronika Khomyn, pulled out the Range Rover, leaving behind a 35-23 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, which pushed the Rams to 3-0. Fight for L.A. by unanimous decision.

If you are inclined to assume that it was nothing more than just jokes exchanged in the moving wake of the team's best start in 17 seasons, you miss the message of the brilliant quarterback assessment by McVay: Goff is not the product of his system. It is the pulse.

"To say he's a player in the system is just disrespectful," McVay told me after the match. "It's a total disrepute to a great player.Those who know, know.Turn the tape.People who know what it's like to play at the quarterback position know what they see." "

"I know it: I would not want to work with someone else than Jared Goff right now."

Return to the band. Go from the front. Start with the third and eighth rifle slam from his own 47-yard line that Goff received with 12:51 left in the third quarter and the Rams at 21-13. McVay had called an area blanket anticipating the game, but the Chargers went with a man-to-man alignment, and the designated drummer The target (receiver Robert Woods) could not follow the route of his choice.

As I patiently explained later Cooper Kupp, the sophomore, "Robert had a bad effect on the road." He wanted to come in, but (the defender) was inside. -being the third or the fourth to read, and I just tried to keep it alive. "

As the pressure tightened, Goff slid forward into the pocket and slightly to his right. Defensive end Issac Rochell came from Goff's left; Defensive end Melvin Ingram has gone from the right. As Goff quickly got closer, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, plunged into flames, plunged into his legs.

"I had read all my readings, four or five of them, and I was completely out of the calendar," Goff said later. "Cooper then flashed – he was just a football player – and I managed to get him there."

Said Kupp: "It was 100% overdue, like, double-calendar." But he did get me the ball, and it certainly will not happen if Jared is not ready to stay there as long as he did. "


What happened was that Goff zipped a glorious dart to the right touchline that Kupp caught on the Chargers 30 rug. Cornerback Trevor Williams grabbed the receiver from behind, but Kupp continued to advance, and on the 20th, he had completely eliminated Williams, continuing his way to a 53-yard touchdown pass.

It was one of Goff's many impressive shots on a day when, with the Rams attack, he mounted surprisingly stupendous numbers.

Goff scored 29 out of 36 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns, and another throw was canceled by a rereading that Receiver Brandin Cooks was stopped at the 1m line. He was in trouble for an interception in the final zone, the safety of the Chargers' Derwin James rookies making a good read on a corner throw for tight end Gerald Everett.

No worries: Rams' Cory Littleton replied by blocking a Drew Kaser kick in the end zone, his teammate Blake Countess getting up for a touchdown. And Goff, after a touchdown from the Chargers, responded by completing his next six passes to set up the 46-yard placement on Sam Ficken's pitch in the last game of the first period.

"This guy is a playmaker," McVay said of Goff after leaving the locker room long after the match. "I think people do not realize how calm he is." On Cooper's landing, he has four guys on him, two guys practically hook him up, and he's playing a game. He's intrepid, dude. the pace, and when things come up as you wish.But when things go wrong and that he can still keep live games and make large shots … well, that's a any other level of good. "

It's early – and the Rams are certain to see the Minnesota Vikings coming into town for a tough match on Thursday night – but the McVay attack, the league's best in 2017, seems to be even better this year. year.

On Sunday, Goff and his friends offered 521 yards of offense, the most by a Rams team since an overtime game in 2006 – and the more than four-quarters of football since 2000, at the heart of the biggest era a spectacle. In addition, L.A. had 33 first duels, the most by an NFL team since the Saints in mid-season 2015.


Goff became the third quarterback in the history of the league to complete consecutive games with at least 350 passing yards and a completion percentage of 75 or more. And the Rams, by coincidence, are 3-0 for the first time since 2001.

So yes, the system Goff's formidable, however, is much more than an indefinable director.

"This guy is a scary monster," said Russell Okung, the veteran left tackle from the Chargers. "And I think what makes him a monster is that he's incredibly consistent, consistent players do the best in this league, you know what to expect every time." (receivers) make games.

"In this league, it's a winning formula – do not give me the flashy guy, give me the guy you can count on every time."

At the present time, metaphorical flashes seem to be focused on a large number of promising and promising young quarterbacks, from Patrick Mahomes to Carson Wentz, to Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and other members of the class. current recruits. .

Goff, for whatever reason, seems to get lost in the wash, even as he cleans up in Tinseltown.

"People do not talk about him," said Andrew Whitworth, Rams' left tackle. "From the beginning, people said it was overexploited, and now I think they're waiting for the opportunity to say that they may be right, yet it did not do anything but continues to to prove them the opposite, and he is getting better and better.

"You feel the command, and his calmness is what whispers you.Week after week, good game, bad game, he comes back, explains what happened and tells us what we have to do next.He can literally communicate so calmly in the moment, and it's amazing how relaxed he is on the football field. "

Unsurprisingly, Goff had a relaxed response to the notion that he's getting less hype than some of his contemporaries.

"No idea," he replied. "Look – with a good return (Todd Gurley, who ran for 105 yards and a touchdown on Sunday) and a very good defense, it can happen.I do not know if they talk about me.I do not know no more If you are 3-0, everything is fine. "

Moments after McVay's Range Rover pulled out of the Coliseum on Sunday night, Goff's mother, Nancy, took her son's indifference a step further.

"We love it," she said, about the lack of relative attention that her son's exploits generate. "It's the best because then you can sneak through the back door.The worst thing is when they do all the" Mr. Perfect "stuff, like (when Goff was a junior Cal ) before (the Golden Bears were playing) and then, five interceptions.At this moment, it's quiet, and we win, and it could not be better.It's exactly where he wants to be. "

Soon, Jared stepped out of the locker room and his parents and they headed for the dusk of L.A. Nobody followed. Rest assured, they like that.

Follow Michael Silver on Twitter @mikesilver.

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