After starting out the year 3-0, the Los Angeles Rams were upset at home in Week 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losing 55-40 at home.
The Rams got off to a sluggish start, which has become a theme this season, falling behind 21-0 in the first half. The Buccaneers were able to pressure Jared Goff all afternoon, forcing the quarterback to make some poor decisions, turning the ball over four times.
In his press conference, Goff admitted that opposing teams have done a good job covering the Rams offense, via the Rams official Twitter:
“I don’t know. Defenses are doing a good job right now. I thought there was a lot of the game where we did do a good job, where we moving the ball well and we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. We were executing and like you’re saying there’s a lot of the game where we couldn’t run the ball effectively and were getting a lot of pressure, so it’s a little bit of both.
Again, I know say this a lot, but a lot of good stuff to build on and a lot of stuff to clean up.”
Goff also admitted that although the team has a quick turnaround game to get things sorted out with a Thursday night road matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, the loss obviously did not sit well with him:
“Frustrating, for sure. I think I try to have a good perspective on it knowing it’s only Week 4 and knowing that we did do some good things and we do have a good Thursday night game, so let this one go by as quick as possible and move on because we have to go up to Seattle on Thursday.
But it is frustrating and it is something that we do need to get fixed, quickly.”
Los Angeles found themselves leaning on Goff the entire afternoon to carry the team offensively as the fourth-year signal-caller threw the ball a career-high 68 times. However, most of those throws came under duress as Tampa Bay dialed up enough pressure to force Goff into some errant throws.
The questions concerning the Rams’ offensive line heading into the season seem to have been valid as the unit has struggled to keep a clean pocket for Goff in the early going. As a result, head coach Sean McVay has seemingly abandoned some of the schematic things that made the team’s offense so potent to begin with.
Goff threw for a career-high 517 yards, completing 45 of his 69 pass attempts while throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions, also fumbling it once on the field game-clinching drive for the Buccaneers.
The Rams do not have much time to sulk about the loss as they have their first divisional game against a tough Seahawks team. Hopefully, both the offense and defense use their performance against the Buccaneers to help them right the ship.
