Two and a half hours after the game, while he and his teammates were sitting on a plane at Sea-Tac Airport waiting to make a satisfactory flight south along the Pacific coast, Goff admitted to me that, although he understood McVay’s reasoning for starting Wolford, it was a punch in the stomach for his competitive spirit. And he reflected on an emotional span of two weeks that tested him more than physically.
Thirteen days earlier, at the same stadium, Goff had broken and dislocated his thumb after hitting him on the Seahawks’ defensive side helmet, Benson Mayowa – then put him back on the field and ended with a 20-9 defeat he gave Seattle the NFC West crown and put the Rams’ post-season hopes in question. He underwent surgery the next day, and Wolford, in his first NFL game, played skillfully in the 18-7 victory in the LA playoffs over the Arizona Cardinals.
McVay liked what he saw of Wolford, citing his mobility (he ran 56 yards against the Cardinals) and decision making, and decided he would rather give the second year backup a full week of preparation than live with the uncertainty surrounding Goff’s injuries.
Said Goff: “Sean made it very clear to me: ‘Obviously, we are not putting you on the bench. We need to have a plan to move forward and this week, with where you are physically and what not …’ I understood, to an extent. But it was difficult. “
Knowing that he would still be active as a Wolford reserve, Goff pushed hard to do his best to prepare for the prospect of being called up for service.
“As a competitor, you want to be there – but I prepared accordingly,” said Goff. “We were doing almost everything we could ‘in the air’ during the week, just a little to the side. I wasn’t doing any repetitions against the defense, but I was just trying to put my thumb in a good place.”
When Wolford, while finishing a short run on Rams’ second attempt at a goalless game, was shot in the head by security star Seahawks Jamal Adams – suffering a neck injury that would take him to a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons (though he managed to return to the stadium and fly home with the team) – McVay had no choice. Newly hired third quarterback Blake Bortles was inactive, leaving the fate of the Rams in Goff’s hands. More precisely, his throwing hand, that is, his four healthy fingers and his semi-flexible thumb were in place.
The first few moments were predictably agitated: Goff, in the third to 5 of the Seattle 15, took a seven-yard sack before Matt Gay scored the first points of the game in a 40-yard field goal. LA stayed in three e-outs in his next two series, with Goff going in a combined 0-for-4.
After Jason Myers’ 50-yard field goal tied the game at 10:34 in the second half, Goff, in the second and 7th, swerved to the right and sent a deep ball towards wide receiver Cooper Kupp. It was a move that Goff discussed with Kupp on the sideline even before Wolford’s injury and, sure enough, the receiver was open. The pass, however, floated over Goff and looked like it could be intercepted – until Kupp came back on alert for the ball and made a good reception despite Adams’ tight coverage, resulting in a 44-yard gain and giving the defender his first conclusion.
Was it the fault of the rear thumb or just the rust?
“I don’t want to use (the injury) as an excuse,” said Goff. “Like, I was there playing; I’m capable. Yes, there were limitations, but I’m not going to sit here and say I can’t make that shot … or I can’t make any of the shots. I can make any move I want. Well, that one in particular, I was trying to get into a rhythm. I was trying to figure out a little bit where I was with my hand and get in a good spot, and Cooper made a big move for me and calmed me down. “
The defense of Rams – the most petty in the league in terms of points allowed during the regular season – also did its part. Led by defensive All-Stratosphere striker Aaron Donald, who had two bags and three defenders before leaving with an unspecified rib injury, LA harassed Seattle’s normally dangerous defender Russel Wilson from start to finish. Most notably, three moves after Gay’s 39-yard field goal gave the Rams a 6-3 lead, cornerback Darious Williams skipped Wilson’s short pass (11 to 27, 174 yards, two touchdowns) to highlight the second DK Metcalf and took him 42 yards to the house.
Wilson reduced the deficit to 13-10 in the next series, escaping pressure and connecting with Metcalf on a 51-yard score – one of the rare times the Seahawks were able to solve the problems that McVay’s first-year defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley, presented them schematically.
Staley, for his part, expressed gratitude for Goff’s resilient effort.
“What did we (discuss) a few weeks ago?” Staley asked via text, referring to an earlier conversation after Goff’s recovery performance in a victory in early December over the Cardinals. “(He is) much tougher than anyone knows!”
And more agile: on a day when Wilson’s improvised brilliance was not enough to lead the Seahawks to victory, Goff managed to make an impersonation of a poor man in one of the most important plays in the game. Facing a third and 9 of his own 26 with 2:55 remaining, Goff – who before this season told me that throwing away is something he worked hard to transform from weakness to strength – came out of his pocket, slid towards the right sideline and it seemed to be in no-man’s-land. Just before reaching the scrimmage line, he made a quick pass to Akers, who advanced to a 44-yard gain.
“That was a good one,” said Goff. “That was the third downhill and we were quick, and Cam Akers is a great player for whom we like to play the ball. And honestly, when I see him in space … I mean, he’s just as good as anyone in space. I was able to dump it for him, and he did the rest. He ran the ball like crazy today. “
Two Akers (28 charged, 131 yards) races later, the Rams had a 20-10 lead that would take them to the break – and the Seahawks had a problem. Seattle held out until the final five minutes of the game, when Goff, in second and 4 against the Seahawks’ 15, froze the defense with a false wicked move to running back Malcolm Brown and made a pass to wide receiver Robert Woods, who entered in the end zone to a 30-13 lead.
“Yes, I think we made that move three times this year, and all three were like that,” said Goff. “We like this one. It was a move we were kind of waiting to get and get the look and get it on. We talked about it during the game, hitting it for a touchdown. Getting the look.”
Perhaps, eventually, Goff will get the love that some might imagine to be worthy of a player who has won three postseason games in his five seasons – including the 2018 NFC Championship Game triumph over the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome – and was a presence during McVay’s four successful years as head coach and offensive guru. For now, he certainly suffers a lot, whether from analytical nerds or fans on social media or Hall of Fame quarterbacks who appear on the show before the game and in the game’s broadcast of his most recent playoff victory. His line of statistics on Saturday (9 to 19, 155 yards, a TD), when he became the first defender since Tom Brady four seasons ago to complete less than 50 percent of his passes and win a playoff game, was another superficial blow against him.
For many FOX viewers, the favorite narrative at the beginning of Saturday’s game seemed to be that McVay chose Wolford because he liked the young player’s determination and that it eased the pressure a little “to be perfect” (colorful commentator Troy Aikman’s term) your piece calls. That is another argument, for another day, but know this: although Goff is adept at blocking the noise and concentrating on the task at hand – that is, finding a way to win – he would certainly appreciate the chance to throw waste on that line of thought in a conspicuous and emphatic way.
Knowing, when Saturday’s game started, that he wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that for his team consumed him inside – even though he intellectually understood that in professing his readiness for McVay there was an element of trying to wish for a cure for existence, like most competitors tend to do, and that the coach had to do what he had to do.
Now, presumably with the opportunity to face the alleged MVP (three times) and Cal Aluminum teammate Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field or six times Super Bowl winner (including a win over Goff two years ago) Brady and the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in next weekend, he hopes to reach a better place in the days ahead.
“Yes, I think I will, (with) repetitions and just time,” said Goff. “Again, I had surgery 12 days ago, and every day it gets better. I’m just against the clock right now. Last Monday or Tuesday it seemed a certain way, and today it was better and tomorrow it will feel even better. It it just continues to feel better every day.
“Where it takes me on (Saturday or) Sunday, I don’t know. But I know it will be good enough to win.”