Coming off back-to-back wins, the Los Angeles Rams were riding high going into their Week 15 matchup with the winless New York Jets as they looked to improve to 10-4 on the season.
The only problem was, the Rams came out as flat as can be, and the Jets did not cooperate by tanking, and the result was a 23-20 loss, arguably the worst of Sean McVay’s career.
Not many words come to mind after watching this game other than embarrassing, and that was the one McVay himself went with as well.
I’m not gonna write as many words as I normally do about this one because there’s really not much to say, but let me quickly break down how it happened.
Matched up with the worst defense in the league, the Rams’ offense was not able to do anything in the first half. Here are how their first-half drives went: punt, punt, blocked punt, interception, punt, punt before getting a field goal on their final drive to avoid being shut out.
After the Jets came out and drove right down the field for a touchdown on their opening drive of the third quarter, the Rams found themselves in a 20-3 hole.
Jared Goff did a nice job of working out of that hole by leading back-to-back touchdown drives and then a field goal to cut the deficit to 23-20.
Due to penalties though, the Rams had a go-ahead touchdown and another run that would’ve put them in the red zone called back and then were stopped on fourth-and-short late in the game. The defense needed to get one more stop, which they were unable to do, and the Jets hung on for a truly shocking victory.
Here are my weekly observations and analysis…
Didn’t mean much in standings
Before I get into talking about just how bad the Rams were, I think it’s important to note that this game did not mean a whole lot as far as the playoff picture goes.
Instead of being 10-4 and in first place, the Rams are now 9-5 and drop to the No. 5 seed in the NFC. With two weeks to go though, the Rams still control their own destiny to win the division. If they beat the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, the next two weeks, the Rams will win the NFC West for the third time in the last four years.
If they lose to Seattle though, they will at best be the No. 5 seed, which honestly wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world considering they would be traveling to take on the NFC East winner in the first round in that scenario. Either way, the Rams still have a greater than 99 percent chance of making the playoffs.
The one thing this loss did cost the Rams is a potential first-round bye as at 10-4, they would have been just one game behind the Green Bay Packers for the top seed in the conference. It was an outside shot to begin with, so not a huge deal here.
Offensive line was terrible
Now, let me get into the game, and I’ll start with the Rams’ offensive line because they were flat out awful.
Goff was not only sacked three times in the game, but he was also hit eight times and was under pressure all day. Despite how bad the offensive line was at protecting Goff and opening holes for Cam Akers, L.A. actually had a chance to win the game late.
Akers had a go-ahead touchdown called back in the fourth quarter thanks to a holding call by Austin Corbett. Then on the final possession, Akers popped a 22-yard run to put L.A. into the red zone to either tie the game with a field goal or win it with a touchdown, but that was again called back by a holding penalty.
The Rams’ offensive line has been solid this season, but if they have a game like this in the postseason, L.A.’s season will be over. I’m still having nightmares of Quinnen Williams in the Rams’ backfield.
Which means Goff was terrible
This is something I’ve been talking about all year, but the Rams’ offensive line being terrible means that Goff was also terrible. Considering he is not mobile and does not have great pocket awareness, that’s just how it works.
Goff finished with an 18.8 QBR, one of his worst games of the season. In addition to being sacked three times, he also turned it over once with an interception in the second quarter and constantly made poor decisions under pressure that easily could have resulted in more turnovers.
The pattern of the Rams winning when Goff plays well and losing when he doesn’t continues, which is worrisome with the postseason quickly approaching. The Rams will go as far as their quarterback takes them this season.
Defense isn’t going to carry this team
I’m not gonna criticize the Rams’ defense too much since they have been outstanding all season. I did find it pretty funny though that Brandon Staley has figured out some of the best offenses and quarterbacks in the league this year, but the one he couldn’t was the Jets with Adam Gase, Sam Darnold and a 37-year-old Frank Gore.
What we did learn from this game though is that the defense is not going to carry the Rams all season, so the offense HAS to be better.
Poor Jets fans
Real quick on the Jets, I just want to say how sorry I feel for their organization and fans. All they had to do was lose out and perhaps the best quarterback prospect of the last 20 years, Trevor Lawrence, would be theirs, but they couldn’t even do that right and now it looks like he will be headed to Jacksonville. Rough.
Up next…
As previously mentioned, the Rams will be traveling to take on the Seahawks next week in a game that will essentially decide who wins the division. Win that one, and this disgusting loss to the Jets will be all but forgotten.
