Why The Sean McVay-Jared Goff Partnership Fell Apart For ... - ESPN

• Lindsey ThiryOct 19, 2021, 06:00 AM ETClose
  Lindsey Thiry is a national NFL reporter for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2018 to cover the Los Angeles Rams after two years of covering them for the Los Angeles Times, and has also covered the Chargers for ESPN. She previously covered the Atlanta Falcons.
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Editor's note: This story originally ran March 24. Jared Goff will return to play in Los Angeles for the first time since being traded to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford when the Lions (0-6) take on the Los Angeles Rams (5-1) on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, Fox).

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Inside the home locker room at SoFi Stadium, standing underneath a neon-glowing Los Angeles Rams logo, coach Sean McVay called out quarterback Jared Goff in front of players and coaches. It was a postgame scene many had never before witnessed.

McVay glared in Goff's direction, shouting that he needed to play better and couldn't continue to turn the ball over. McVay didn't say the quarterback's name, but those who were there said they knew to whom McVay was talking.

Minutes later, a heated McVay continued to call out Goff, but this time to reporters, the first time in four seasons as coach he took aim at a player rather than putting the blame on himself after a loss.

"Our quarterback has to take better care of the football," McVay said about Goff, the player general manager Les Snead traded six picks to move up and draft No. 1 overall in 2016.

That was Week 12 of the 2020 season, and Goff had turned the ball over three times in a 23-20 loss to the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers. But McVay's frustration with the franchise quarterback had been brewing for some time.

In the span of two seasons, routine coach and quarterback sideline squabbles turned into one-sided shouting matches, with McVay no longer holding back. Two opposite personalities that once worked harmoniously -- McVay's hyper-focused drive to Goff's cool-and-calm demeanor -- no longer meshed. Goff's thumb injury allowed McVay to start a different quarterback late last season. That, coupled with Matthew Stafford's request for a trade from the Detroit Lions, proved to be the end for Goff in L.A.

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Two weeks after the 2020 campaign, which ended with a divisional playoff loss at the Green Bay Packers, the Rams traded Goff, two first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Lions in exchange for Stafford.

It was a startling turn of events considering Goff won two NFC West division titles and an NFC championship and helped lead the Rams to Super Bowl LIII. For those accomplishments, he was rewarded with a four-year, $134 million extension, including a record-breaking $110 million guaranteed, only 17 months before the trade.

"Unfortunately, the way it ended is never how you envision it," Goff said during an introductory news conference in Detroit. "But it's the way it goes."

"When you look back on the four years that we did have together, there's a lot of times you can smile on," McVay said a month after the trade was agreed upon. "I would say there's a lot of things that when I self-reflect, I certainly wish I was better for him in some instances."

The trade came together within 24 hours and was a move few could have predicted despite knowing the Rams' quarterback situation for 2021 would be different than the previous four years. McVay and Snead made that clear in their season-ending news conferences when they provided no guarantees for Goff.

"Yeah, he's our quarterback, right now," McVay said after the loss to the Packers.

The following day, McVay would not guarantee Goff's spot on the roster in 2021. A week later, Snead wouldn't either.

"Jared Goff is a Ram right now," Snead said. "So, what's the date? January 26."

The trade was agreed to on Jan. 30 but became official on March 18, a day after the start of the league year.

"There's a lot of things that go into it, and most importantly, it's a rare opportunity to acquire a player of Matthew Stafford's caliber," McVay said shortly after his new quarterback was introduced in L.A., despite Stafford's 0-3 career playoff record. "To be able to acquire somebody like him was an opportunity that we wanted to be aggressive about pursuing, and it fortunately worked out.

"Jared Goff is a Ram right now. So, what's the date? January 26." Rams general manager Les Snead, four days before the team agreed to trade Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford.

"But by no means is it a reflection of not respecting and appreciating all the great things that Jared Goff has done."

However, interviews with more than two dozen sources, including Rams players, coaches and front-office personnel, either on the record or on condition of anonymity, painted the portrait of a relationship between McVay and Goff that fractured in 2019 and slowly decayed throughout the 2020 season.

'It will be a good marriage'

After seven winless starts as a rookie under former Rams coach Jeff Fisher, Goff played masterfully in his next two years with McVay as coach and a supporting cast that included All-Pro running back Todd Gurley II and All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The lanky quarterback passed for 8,492 yards and 60 touchdowns with 19 interceptions in 2017 and 2018 and earned two Pro Bowl selections. Meanwhile, his future successor passed for 8,223 yards and 50 touchdowns and 21 interceptions with Detroit during that span.

With a mega-payday looming for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Rams wanted to get ahead of the market reset and re-sign Goff despite the two seasons remaining on his rookie contract.

McVay inherited Goff at quarterback when he took the job in 2017 but felt confident about what he had seen during their two seasons together. He signed off on the decision to give Goff the contract extension.

"Jared Goff, as long as I'm fortunate enough to be in this role, hopefully this guy is stuck with me for a long time," McVay said a few months after the Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots.

A day after the deal was announced, Goff smiled about his future with McVay.

"He's joked that I'm stuck with him; I told him, 'I think I'm OK with that,'" Goff said. "It will be a good marriage ... I'm happy to be with him for a long time."

However, in the two seasons that followed, the Rams' offense steadily declined -- going from third in scoring in 2018 to 12th in 2019 to tied for 22nd in 2020 -- along with Goff's production.

Along with it, the question began percolating inside the Rams' building: Did we make a mistake?

Cracking the code

What the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick did to the Rams' offense during the Super Bowl, holding it to 260 total yards, including 60 rushing yards, didn't just ruin a game plan and the chance to return to L.A. with a title. It upended a scheme, exposed a quarterback and provided the NFL -- the ultimate copycat league -- a blueprint of how to grind McVay's offense to a halt.

McVay knew getting back to the Super Bowl would not be easy, but he didn't expect the offense to take a significant step backward, as the downtick in scoring resulted in the Rams missing the playoffs in 2019.

The offensive line underwent turnover. Sturdy left guard Rodger Saffold departed in free agency, the Rams declined an option on veteran center John Sullivan's contract and right tackle Rob Havenstein was sidelined midway through the season because of a knee injury. Gurley, the 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, had knee issues, and McVay struggled to consistently incorporate the run in the game plan.

With the infrastructure around him beginning to falter, Goff needed to take control.

McVay grinded at all hours, trying to solve the offensive issues. With no full-time offensive coordinator -- a position McVay did not fill after current Packers coach Matt LaFleur departed following the 2017 season -- it fell on McVay to right the ship.

It became apparent to some inside the building that Goff had not developed into a quarterback who could thrive without a strong cast.

"The situation around him affected his game. If the O-line wasn't always firing or if he was missing a wide receiver, things didn't go well," a team source said. "If he had a clean pocket and everything was going perfect, he's a top-five quarterback."

Shane Waldron -- Goff's fourth quarterbacks coach in four seasons (and now the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks) -- manned the position room along with assistant Zac Robinson. McVay would drop in.

The Rams' previous two quarterbacks coaches -- LaFleur and Zac Taylor (now the Cincinnati Bengals' coach) -- provided buffers between McVay and Goff.

McVay would be able to get his message, no matter how tough, to Goff through the quarterbacks coach, ensuring no disruption to the relationship.

"Sean is an amped-up guy; Jared was always calm and collected," a team source said. "I thought they balanced each other out."

But as the 2019 season progressed without the desired results, McVay began to coach Goff more directly and their dynamic began to slowly unravel.

"Sean got more involved, was tougher on Jared and didn't realize that he wasn't building him back up," a league source said.

Goff complained to others about McVay and vice versa. The two wouldn't sit down often enough to hammer the issues out, a league source said.

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On the sideline, where emotional outbursts are not uncommon, "It gradually became more hostile, with McVay cussing out Goff, and Goff would feel crushed," a league source said.

Despite those increasingly confrontational interactions, it appeared McVay and Goff successfully navigated a difficult stretch toward the end of the 2019 season. Though they missed the playoffs, the Rams won three out of five games to finish 9-7.

After averaging 20.6 points per game through the first 12 weeks, the offense upped its production to 27.6 points per game over the final five contests.

Goff was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after passing for 424 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 13 rout of the Arizona Cardinals. "I'm seeing a guy who's been playing good football lately," McVay said.

The following week, Goff passed 293 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in a lopsided victory over the Seahawks. And despite losing 34-31 to the 49ers in a critical Week 16 game on a blown defensive coverage, Goff passed for 323 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.

McVay and Goff appeared to have their groove back.

Opposite personalities, increasing friction

Ultimately, the merger between the Type A, football-hyper personality of McVay and the laid-back Goff didn't work.

Spend enough time around McVay and you'll notice some common refrains. Among them, "Consistency is the truest measure of performance." Throughout the 2020 season, McVay harped on Goff's need to improve.

"Consistency is the biggest thing. I know it's like a broken record, but it is the truth," McVay said when asked what he wanted to see from Goff through the final quarter of the regular season.

"He was good this season," a team source said about Goff. "Except when he was awful."

With no Gurley, who was cut during the offseason, the Rams moved to running back by committee before rookie Cam Akers became the feature back late in the season. The O-line grew more cohesive after an uneven 2019, but after trading wideout Brandin Cooks to the Houston Texans, the offense lacked a deep-threat receiver to stretch a defense.

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