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Pressure mounting on Sean McVay, Jared Goff to get Rams' stagnant offense back on track
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Pressure mounting on Sean McVay, Jared Goff to get Rams' stagnant offense back on track

Somebody make sure to confiscate the television remote from Sean McVay tonight. Lock him in a closet until "Monday Night Football" is over. No good can come of watching. 

All Mondays are tough after a loss, but this one must be particularly brutal for McVay. 

Not only did his Los Angeles Rams forget their offensive playbook against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, a game in which the once-vaunted Rams attack accounted for all of three points in a 17-12 road loss — and not only has his coaching acumen been called into question after yet another lackadaisical effort — but worse, the class of the NFC West does battle in a marquee "MNF" matchup, with the 9-0 San Francisco 49ers squaring off against the 7-2 Seattle Seahawks in a game that could go a long way toward deciding the NFC playoff picture.

That picture is becoming increasingly muddled for the Rams, whose loss dropped them to 5-4 and into a three-way tie for sixth in the crowded NFC playoff race. It became apparent weeks ago that Los Angeles' two-year hold on the NFC West was in doubt, but now the Rams are in danger of missing the playoffs altogether for the first time since Jared Goff's rookie season in 2016. 

So what is this: regression or revelation? 

Have the Rams backslid after two seasons of end-over-end ascension, a run that saw Los Angeles improve from 4-12 in 2016 to 10-6 and an NFC West title in 2017 to 13-3 and the Super Bowl last year? 

Or has McVay been revealed for what he is? A good, young coach but not a wunderkind, someone reliant on the health of a generational talent at running back — Todd Gurley — and not the man who will rewrite the future of offensive football. 

Since Gurley was sidelined with left knee inflammation in Week 16 of the 2018 campaign, the Rams offense hasn't looked the same. 

Forget the Super Bowl blackout, a three-point performance in a 13-3 loss to New England that was about as forgettable as any title-game effort in recent history. 

Los Angeles just hasn't operated with the same offensive efficiency of the last two years, and Goff's numbers have dropped drastically. 

His completion percentage has fallen from 64.9 last year to 60.3 this year. After throwing 32 touchdowns to 12 interceptions a season ago, Goff has 11 scores and nine picks in 2019. His yards-per-completion has dropped a full yard — from 8.4 to 7.4 — and his passer rating is down nearly 20 points, plummeting from 101.1 last year to 82.7 this year. His Total QBR ranks 28th in the league. 

On Sunday, Goff was at his worst. He completed just 22-of-41 passes (a season-low 53.7 percent) for 243 yards, with four sacks, zero touchdowns and two interceptions, including one returned for a score by Pittsburgh's Minkah Fitzpatrick. 

Goff's otherworldly connection with Cooper Kupp? Absent. Kupp caught zero passes on four targets after leading the Rams with 792 yards on 58 catches in the first eight games. This came despite the loss of Brandin Cooks, who suffered two concussions in the span of a month. 

“Anytime you're 1-for-13 on third downs, you're never going to give yourself a chance to stay on the field,” said McVay, his voice hoarse following the loss. “We had some self-indicted wounds, some penalties. I think it was a collaboration of everybody can be better. …. We weren’t really productive as a whole offensively. Which is obvious. Some of those things, I've got to do a better job for all of us. We've all got to collectively find a way to be better.” 

It was the latest example of a growing trend. As an offense, the Rams are down from 33 points per game last year to 25.1 this year. 

To be fair, Goff took responsibility after the game and vowed to be better. He also stood by his coach in the process. 

He’s not ready to throw in the towel on this season quite yet. 

"We have the guys, we've done it before, we've got the coaches, we have the right guy calling plays,” he said. “It's all there. We just need to execute and be who we know we are. ... We're really close to doing it." 

Funny thing is, this season was supposed to be a breeze for the Rams. 

Los Angeles entered the year with the second-easiest strength of schedule based on last year's records. The Rams' 2019 slate went just 120-134-2 in 2018. 

But with more than half of the season complete, the Rams' strength of schedule so far is almost smack in the middle: 17th of 32 teams. The final seven games include tough home games against Chicago, Baltimore and Seattle, difficult road tilts at Dallas and San Francisco, and both matchups with feisty Arizona. 

If McVay thinks things are going to get any easier from here, he’s got another thing coming. 

He’d do himself good by buckling down, going back in the laboratory and figuring out what ails his offense. Forget the opponents, and most certainly, ignore the two scary defenses to the north, especially on Monday night, when they do battle in a prime-time showdown. 

Go out for a bite, take in a movie, focus on fixing the inconsistent Goff, watch anything else. 

It’s a Monday. I hear "The Voice" is good.

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