Jared Goff was placed on the bench. There is no other way to write. There was no other way to see this.
The Rams quarterback in the Super Bowl was eliminated in the playoffs by a guy who had played an NFL game. The $ 134 million Rams quarterback with a surgically repaired right thumb was healthy enough to activate, but was replaced by a guy who had yet to make an NFL touchdown pass.
Going with John Wolford on Saturday was the right decision, the right decision, but it was a bold decision that could shake the franchise, and when the NFC wild-card playoff battle started in cold Seattle, the Rams were besieged by a cold question .
Where does Jared Goff go from here? Do you try to change it? Do you lose his trust? How can you deal with a team leader who has been ordered to sit down during the biggest moment of the season?
Where does Jared Goff go from here?
It turns out that, just 10 minutes after the kickoff, he takes off his mask, takes off his headphones and enters the game.
He is shaking. He is sloppy. But, my God, he goes and goes, replacing the injured Wolford with a careful and astute version of himself, managing the Rams for a 30-20 win and a trip to the NFC semifinals next week, also known as the round divisional.
He goes from shyly peeking into a dark corner of the sideline to running across the field, beating his fists and shouting, that’s where he’s going.
“It feels good,” he said later, quiet satisfaction filling his voice. “It feels really good.”
It is a very strange feeling to praise a quarterback who scored nine from 19 to 155 yards and a touchdown. But it seems very appropriate, considering that Goff has finally done the only thing he should do – make no mistakes and let your best defense do the rest.
It was one of his scariest hours, his breath catching with each wavering pass, the constant concern that the player with the most NFL turnovers since 2019 would lose control against a flying Seahawks defense.
Rams quarterback John Wolford is attended by the medical team after being injured against the Seattle Seahawks in the first half. He suffered a neck injury and was taken to a local hospital.
(Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)
Still, strangely, it was one of his best moments, when he struggled with thumb and doubt to make three great plays that led to 17 points, including a 15-yard touchdown at the end of the fourth period for an open Robert Woods to win it.
“We feel like John [Wolford] I was really getting ready to get into a rhythm, and then Jared stepped in and handled things incredibly well, ”said Rams coach Sean McVay. “You can see that he just fought … I was very pleased with his effort … a real credit to him.”
He fought at every corner. Goff shrugged at the embarrassment of his first bank since he started, four seasons ago. He shuddered at the discomfort of having three pins inserted into his broken right thumb during surgery just a dozen days earlier. It wasn’t pretty, but he showed a brave side of himself that Rams fans were waiting to see.
Jared Goff, survivor.
“My thumb is fine, I won’t use it as an excuse for anything that didn’t work out my way today,” he said. “It is not 100% … but it is in a good place.”
OK, so when the game started, how was your mood?
“It was difficult, as a competitor, of course, I wanted to be there and I wanted to play, and I felt I could, I felt I could make a difference,” he said.
McVay said his choice was based on Goff’s physical state – “The thought process for the game was that our quarterback had thumb surgery” – but he also admitted to making the decision and informing the team earlier in the week. This meant that he was not waiting for updates on Goff’s thumb rehabilitation. And Goff was obviously cured enough to play, otherwise McVay would have activated Blake Bortles.
Make no mistake, Goff was at the bank. And sure enough, McVay made the right choice. Versatile Wolford was the right defender. This was obvious as his second ball possession in the game, when Wolford led the attack 60 yards downfield, completed a pair of passes for a total of 28 yards, moved them to a first descent in the 20 Seahawks.
Then football happened.
In a planned race, two yards beyond the scrimmage line, Wolford was knocked to the ground and then hit on the head by the flying right shoulder of the Seahawks’ Jamal Adams. It was a cheap shot. It was an illegal shot. It should have been flagged.
Under the helmet, Wolford narrowed his eyes in pain. Before the break, he left the stadium in an ambulance and a cervical collar. He later returned to the locker room after suffering what McVay called a “stinger”.
“It’s a shame that John was injured … I thought he was seeing the field very well,” said McVay.
Goff immediately looked like the usual frustrating Goff. On his second move, he was fired and Rams had to settle for a 40-yard field goal. In Goff’s second series, he had a takedown and a hitting pass. In his third series, he threw the ball wildly down the field over everyone.
He seemed unprepared. He looked hurt. He looked shaken. Later, he smiled. “I was ready to go,” he said, adding a not-so-subtle reminder. “I’ve played great games before.”
Certainly, things started to happen. Early in the second quarter, Cooper Kupp saved him by returning to an underthrown ball and turning it into a 44-yard finish that led to Matt Gay’s 39-yard field goal.
And in his next series, in a third and nine deep in Rams’ territory, a clumsy Goff threw a short pass that the incredible Cam Akers turned into a 44-yard gain that ended up leading Akers into a five-yard touchdown run to give the Rams have a 20-10 lead in the range they never lost.
Goff later ended with a wobbly but perfect pass that Woods carried into the final zone and a meeting next weekend in Green Bay or Tampa Bay.
Who will be the starting quarterback …?
“Jared did a great job today, he is our quarterback,” said McVay, but then quickly added, “a lot of that will be based on how Jared’s thumb checks.”
So it’s Goff. Perhaps. Probably. For a while.