The Jets have two things going for them when they face off against the LA-again Rams at MetLife Stadium on Sunday: the visiting team’s coach and his quarterback.
Jeff Fisher is at the Rams’ helm, and if there’s one safe bet in the NFL, it’s that a Fisher-coached team won’t be very good. I’m not saying Fisher isn’t good at his job, but it’s beyond astonishing that a head coach could last more than 20 years in the league and manage to make the playoffs just a half-dozen times.
Only 10 men have been NFL head coaches as long as Fisher has, and all have made it to the postseason far more often than him -- with the exception of Curly Lambeau, who roamed the sidelines so long ago that everyone under the age of 70 only knows his name as a stadium.
It looks like Fisher will be finishing out of the money again this season, as the Rams are on a four-game losing streak after getting off to a promising start. The team is now 3-5 despite one of the better defenses in the league, headed by DT Aaron Donald, who may well be the best active defensive player in pro football with J.J. Watt sidelined by injury.
The Rams aren’t winning because, well, they’re not scoring. Funny how that works. LA ranks 32nd in a 32-team league in points scored, with a mere 16 a game. And that comes back to their QB -- Jared Goff.
Oh wait, Goff isn’t starting, even though Fisher basically gave up every draft pick he had and some he didn’t to trade up to the top spot and draft the star signal-caller from Cal this past spring. The 22-year-old hasn’t even taken a snap this year. In fact, the Rams seem even more afraid to put Goff on the field than Gang Green is with fellow rookie Christian Hackenberg.
It’s nothing new for teams to sit highly-drafted QBs a while to get acclimated to the NFL. Carson Palmer didn’t see any action after being picked No. 1 overall by the Bengals in 2003. Philip Rivers threw just 30 passes in his first two pro seasons, and fellow first-rounder Aaron Rodgers tossed less than 60 in his first three years in Green Bay.
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But with Palmer, Cincy was sticking to its plan all along, while Rivers and Rodgers were behind two guys named Drew Brees and Brett Favre.
Goff, meanwhile, is playing backup to Case Keenum -- a poor man’s Ryan Fitzpatrick, especially since Keenum lacks a Harvard degree. Now in his fifth pro season, the Rams QB has proven one thing: he’s not a legitimate NFL starter, at least if you want to win more games than you lose.
At 3-6, the home team is basically playing for pride at this point -- and draft position. They may as well win, though. After all, what’s the point in getting a high pick when you end up choosing a guy who can’t get off the bench?
