The Los Angeles Rams offense was nothing short of abysmal during the 17-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10.
The Rams had a whole extra week to prepare for a Steelers defense that ranked second in the league in turnovers with 22 coming into the matchup. Unfortunately, they simply could not find an answer for the hounding pressure that made quarterback Jared Goff feel uncomfortable for the entirety of the game.
Los Angeles committed four turnovers and 10 penalties worth 95 yards while allowing Goff to be sacked four times. As a result, it is difficult to pinpoint where things went wrong on the road in Pittsburgh.
Head coach Sean McVay admits that the Rams did not do themselves any favors to potentially win the game, via the Rams’ official Twitter:
“Any time that you’re 1-for-13 on first downs, you’re never going to give yourself a chance to stay on the field, McVay said. “We had some self-inflicted wounds, some penalties. I think it was a collaboration of everyone can be better. You got to go back and look at the tape but that is something that we’re going to do and we have to be better for our team.”
McVay added that the onus will fall on himself and the rest of the offense to figure out a way to get back on track:
“I really think it was just our offense as a whole. There were so many stoppages, however you want to cut it, we didn’t allow ourselves to get into a rhythm. There was really no flow, we didn’t convert any of the third downs… Nobody was good enough today and that’s where we’ll look back and figure out how to be better.”
The Rams offense had fallen off to start the 2019 NFL season compared to recent years before they seemingly turned the corner with a couple of strong outings heading into the bye, however, it is now clear that the level of competition they faced made a huge difference this time around. Their inability to build on the momentum they had generated has now put them in quite a hole when it comes to playoff contention.
If there is a silver lining to their underwhelming showing on offense, it is that McVay seemed to try and put an emphasis on establishing the run with Todd Gurley after he had his best game on the ground since the season opener by rushing for 73 yards on 12 carries.
Regardless, it only raises further questions as to why Los Angeles seemingly went away from him at crucial moments in the game. One thing that is clear though is that Goff is not going to be successful if his offensive line is not protecting him.
