Tom Pelissero @TomPelisseroJared Goff at the podium now. Says this hurts him so much, knowing how well the #Rams defense played. “Toughest loss I’ve ever had. It kills. It’s terrible.”
"It hurts me knowing how well our defense played, against that team, against Tom [Brady], and us not holding up our end of the bargain," he added, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "It's our job to score points, and we didn't do that tonight."
"What really stings for me, especially as a quarterback, is that our defense played so well—and I wasn't able to deliver. It was me. It was our offense. And we—well, I—couldn't do my part.
"It wasn't a game we needed 30 points to win. We needed two touchdowns, and I couldn't get it done. That's on me. I'm the guy who has to drive this offense."
Goff, 24, finished 19-of-38 for 229 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked four times, and his fourth-quarter interception left the Rams with a slim chance of coming back.
"Obviously, I should have thrown it away," Goff said. "I knew it was 'zero'—of course I did—but I thought I could make a play. I didn't realize [Stephon] Gilmore was staring at me, and I threw too early. I put it in a bad spot. It was dumb. It was stupid. I will learn from it. But it really hurts right now."
NFL @NFLWOW. @BumpNrunGilm0re PICKS OFF Jared Goff with 4:17 left in the game. @Patriots leading 10-3. 📺: #SBLIII on CBS
The reviews were not kind for Goff after the game:
Frank Isola @TheFrankIsolaNever believed for a minute Jared Goff was beating Bill Belichick.
Skip Bayless @RealSkipBaylessCongratulations also to Bill Belichick, whose defense played its best game of the season. Yet it helped that the opposing QB was Jared Goff. This stage was just too big for him for much of this night.
Booger @ESPNBoogerGoff has to get better. Right now he is a play action qb. And when the run game isn’t working by in large Goff struggles.
He recognized his performance would draw the criticism of pundits and fans, but he is already looking to the future to become a better player:
"I'd like to play better in a moment like this. And I will be better because of it. I'll try to learn from it, and process it, and get better moving forward. I understand all that.
"But it's pretty tough to think about right now, because we had a great opportunity, and we didn't capitalize on it. It's my job to lead us. I didn't get it done, and it sucks."
Silver noted that Goff's "statements did not appear to be calculated or contrived. He was hurting; he was bleeding all over the place. And he was offering a journalist who knows him well a glimpse into the beginning of a long, regretful process that he hopes will prod him to greater heights."
Bill Belichick and the Patriots put on a clinic, the sort that Goff and his head coach, Sean McVay, won't soon forget. The Rams have the talent to return to the Super Bowl in the future, but only if they address the offensive weaknesses that were exposed Sunday night.
