After just about every Rams loss in the last three-plus years, you could wager a good amount of money that Sean McVay would fall on the sword and take the blame for his team coming up short. He’s done it since his first loss in 2017 and did so after the Rams fell to the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
On Sunday night, though, he wasn’t so quick to point the finger at himself. After the 49ers knocked off the Rams 24-16 at Levi’s Stadium, McVay used a different script to evaluate what went wrong.
Of course, he did say he has to do a better job himself, but the main point he made was that the Rams’ top players didn’t make plays they typically do.
“Offensively, we just were never really to get any continuity,” he said. “We had a lot of missed opps tonight – some decisions that clearly I’ve got to do a better job with. But I think as a whole, just too many things that we’re not accustomed to doing. You give credit to the 49ers, they did a nice job, but we made a lot of uncharacteristic things. We had a lot of our players that we count on that didn’t come through in some situations that they typically do, but it’s a great learning opportunity for us.”
There’s a long list of “opps” that the Rams missed on Sunday night, all of which will be pointed out by McVay in this week’s film session. For starters, Jared Goff missed a wide-open Cooper Kupp on a crossing route during the Rams’ first possession, which would’ve at least gotten the Rams into field goal range.
Later on, Goff and Kupp couldn’t connect on a deep pass down the middle where Kupp had a few steps on the nearest defender.
Idk who you blame on this one. Looks like Kupp was expecting the pass right on the hash, but Goff led him to his left.
Either way, missed opportunity. pic.twitter.com/1KQ7mvBEhm
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) October 19, 2020
And then on a crucial third down, Kupp dropped a 2-yard pass in the end zone that would’ve pulled the Rams to within one score.
Andrew Whitworth committed two false starts on two key third-down plays, causing those drives to stall. Not to mention, Robert Woods was called for a false start and Leonard Floyd jumped offsides on third-and-1 near the Rams’ own end zone.
Goff said himself that there were receivers open and the chances were there, but he and his playmakers simply didn’t do what they’re supposed to: make plays. Granted, McVay had his share of mistakes, too – like burning two timeouts in the third quarter and opting not to try an onside kick – but most of this game falls on the shoulders of the players.
It wasn’t lost on McVay and he was right to point the finger for once.
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