All week leading up to Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, Sean McVay ensured fans and media members that the Rams wouldn’t overlook their opponent despite their 0-13 record. He complimented how hard the Jets have played, pointing to their narrow losses to the Raiders and Patriots as reasons not to look too far ahead to Week 16.
Whether the Rams didn’t take the winless Jets seriously or if they simply had a bad day doesn’t matter all that much, because the result was the same: they lost at home, 23-20. McVay wasn’t just using his typical coach speak when talking about the Jets’ talent, either.
He actually called Adam Gase last week at 4:15 a.m. PT to compliment his team and talk about how hard the players play for him. Gase was surprised by the call, considering how early it was on the West Coast.
“He called me at 7:15 a.m. our time, which I’m sitting there going, ‘I can’t believe he’s at the office already,’ because it’s 4:15 (in Los Angeles),” Gase said after the Jets’ win. “I was going to answer it, just because I knew he was up and wanted to say something. He just said, ‘Watching the tape,’ he was like, ‘Man, these guys play hard for you. I know things haven’t gone the way you’ve wanted, but just keep those guys grinding and keep them pushing.’”
The Jets did play hard on Sunday against the Rams, shocking them in the biggest upset of the 2020 season. As 17-point underdogs, few people gave the Jets a chance against the league’s No. 1-ranked defense, but at any moment, a team can lose to any opponent – no matter the records.
The Rams are now 9-5 and sit in the fifth spot in the NFC. Back-to-back wins in the final two weeks would give them the division title over the Seahawks, so they do have a chance to come back from this stunning loss. But this one hurts in more ways than one.
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