The Los Angeles Rams suffered one of their most disappointing losses of the 2020 NFL season in Week 12 versus the San Francisco 49ers. Even more concerning is the number of turnovers coming under center from Jared Goff.
Goff committed three of the team’s four turnovers in the 23-20 loss to the 49ers. The other coming from running back Malcolm Brown on the opening drive.
Just like it did with the Miami Dolphins, the errors came back to haunt L.A. in the end. It is safe to say that head coach Sean McVay is not too pleased with his group’s inability to take care of the ball.
Not only was the Rams’ offense anemic for a majority of the game, the turnovers only added more salt to the wound. McVay wasted no time in holding Goff accountable for his poor performance, per Lindsey Thiry of ESPN:
“We’re not taking good enough care of the football and that’s something that’s got to change, otherwise I’m going to continue to sit up here and say this week in and week out,” McVay said. “It just can’t continue to happen.”
While McVay gave credit to the 49ers, he added that Goff simply needs to do a better job of taking care of the football to win in this league:
“It might be keeping two hands on the ball, it might be that if somebody is swarming around you that you can’t just throw it away when you don’t see where you’re going, being able to trust your guys to separate,” McVay said. “But overall, any time that you turn it over as many times as we did and he did, it’s just got to be better. He’s capable of it, but we just got to be able to get it done.”
McVay’s comments are indicative of his growing frustration with the stagnant offense that is costing them close games. Although he has never been one to put the blame on himself for the team’s shortcomings, the uptick in Goff’s turnovers leaves little room to make the necessary adjustments.
Goff completed 19 of 31 passes for 198 yards and has now thrown at least two interceptions in three of the last four games. The Rams’ franchise quarterback is now tied with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins for second in the league with the 14 turnovers.
As bad as Goff and McVay’s offense was, the defense –led by coordinator Brandon Staley– continues to perform at an elite level. They did what they could to keep their hopes alive by recording three turnovers and a touchdown of their own but it would not be enough.
The 49ers are now relishing in the fact that they have swept the season series against the Rams for a second straight year. However, the team clearly has much bigger concerns heading into the home stretch of the 2020 campaign if they hope to secure a spot in the postseason.
