The Los Angeles Rams lost their fourth straight game Sunday, with the offense again struggling as they were defeated by the Carolina Panthers 13-10.
Kicker Greg Zuerlein did not help the Rams offense by missing two field goals, but the Panthers held Los Angeles scoreless until there was just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Case Keenum struggled of third down as the Rams converted just four of 14 third down attempts. While there has been recent talks about Jared Goff possibly replacing Keenum in the near future, that did not happened Sunday and head coach Jeff Fisher said that it is not going to happen this upcoming week, although it will happen at some point this season, via Myles Simmons of therams.com:
“I’ve been saying since Day 1, we’ll play him when the time is right and when he’s ready. And with each passing week, he’s getting better and better,” Fisher said. “He has a better understanding, he recognizes things, he’s prepared, he understands the challenges week-to-week.”
“I know everybody wants to talk about it, and that’s the big question,” Fisher added. “And, again, he’s going to play. And whether it’s the following week, or the following week or what have you — it’s eventually going to happen.”
Fisher and Goff are both prepared for him to play at anytime though, as Fisher said that there was a point when Goff almost got into the game Sunday as Keenum suffered a contusion to his left hand:
“There was a moment yesterday when Case came out. He had an extreme contusion to his non-throwing hand. And there was a chance — we didn’t know on the sideline — but there was a potential chance for fracture,” Fisher said. “So I said, ‘Jared get warmed up, get ready.’ He goes, ‘Coach, I’m ready.’ I said, ‘I know you are. So let’s see where Case’s forearm is, and we’ll go from there.”
“It was determined that it was just a contusion, and not a fracture,” Fisher added. “But that’s [Goff’s] mindset.”
The loss dropped the Rams to 3-5 on the season, which is 2.5 games off the division lead and 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.
While this team had playoff aspirations for this season, with each loss they are falling further and further out of the race which means they are inching closer and closer to getting Goff some reps as the teams starting quarterback so he has something to work off of going into next season.
