Four first-half turnovers by Jared Goff put Rams in a 28-7 hole as they fail to build on their win over Bears.
As expected, a quarterback was overwhelmed and forced into errors by a smart and aggressive defense Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Not as expected, that quarterback wasn’t the rookie making his much-anticipated first NFL start. While the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa showed his inexperience in his first NFL start, it was the Rams’ Jared Goff who was pressured into four first-half turnovers. The two interceptions and two fumbles led to a 21-point second-quarter blitz by Miami that cost the Rams a 28-17 loss in front of a crowd limited by COVID-19 rules. The Rams had given themselves a chance when Goff warmed up late and hit wide receiver Robert Woods for an 11-yard touchdown with 9:58 to play. But in one last sign that this wasn’t their day, their attempt to pull within eight with a 48-yard field goal blew up when new kicker Kai Forbath missed badly, short and to the left. The Rams (5-3) had come into the game on a high after routing the Chicago Bears on Monday night, their first win over a team with a winning record. They had to like what they faced, with Aaron Donald ready to welcome the fifth overall draft pick to the NFL. And it began so well for the Rams. Maybe too well. The dream of Donald terrorizing Tagovailoa quickly became real when the defensive tackle’s strip sack and linebacker Leonard Floyd’s fumble recovery gave the Rams the ball at the Miami 15, and Woods took a Goff handoff and scored standing up around left end from the 4.
