LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams ended the season with a bittersweet taste in their mouth. The sweet flavor is, they will have an opportunity to start fresh with a new head coach next season. The bitter swallow was, they had high hopes to end the season with a victory and they did not accomplish that goal.
Not only was the 44-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals disappointing, the entire season has been dissatisfactory for Los Angeles and you could hear it in Rams rookie Pharoh Cooper’s voice when he described how he felt about the 4-12 season record in two sentences.
“Really frustrating,” Cooper said. “That’s the kind of season. We couldn’t score points. In this game, you’ve got to score points.”
There has to be better days in the near future for the Rams. They have a young promising group who could use some guidance on the football field. And it starts with the No.1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, Jared Goff. Goff’s NFL debut was far from exquisite. However, he was asked to run an offense with zero experience and no one to teach him how to be a quarterback in the big leagues.
Rams interim head coach John Fassel blatantly expressed his thoughts on Todd Gurley and Goff after the game.
“You have two building blocks. I think you have a quarterback and a running back a rookie and second-year guy,” Fassel said. “Clearly, they need to perform better, but they need help.”
In Sunday’s game, Goff was maltreated and took more jabs than Gurley. He was hit nine times, including seven sacks. Goff was sacked 26 times in nine games.
The moral of the Rams story is, the offensive line was missing in action more than they were supposed to which could have had an effect on Gurley and Goff’s game. You have to have protection in the NFL if you want to win games.
Only time will tell with this team.
