Not every win is to the credit of the players, just as not every loss falls on them, either. Coaching matters on a weekly basis in the NFL, and there may not be a coach in football who shoulders the blame more than Sean McVay does.
After the Rams were embarrassed by the Dolphins in Week 8, McVay once again held himself accountable for his own shortcomings and mistakes on the sideline. In his postgame press conference, he blamed himself for the loss, saying he didn’t have enough of an answer for Brian Flores’ defense, which shut down Jared Goff and L.A.’s offense.
“Offensively, 100% didn’t do a good enough job on my part,” he began. “The turnovers were absolutely killer where they ended up getting a touchdown and basically getting another touchdown after we had ended up getting a short field. Didn’t handle some of the pressure earlier and that’s on me. I have to do a much better job for our team, we have to do a better job in our coverage units. Can’t give up a return for a touchdown, but ultimately, we didn’t get it done. That falls on my plate. I have to do a much better job for this team and that’s what I’ll focus on for these coaches, for these players and making sure you’re not sitting here with this pit in your stomach but we can do something about it when we return from the bye.
“For us, not nearly good enough and mainly myself.”
McVay isn’t the one who threw two interceptions, or allowed an 88-yard punt return, or lost two fumbles. He’s not the one who dropped a couple of passes on third down and he didn’t miss a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
But what McVay also didn’t do is adapt. He didn’t have an answer for the Dolphins’ game plan on defense, which involved constant pressure, man coverage and blitzes on seemingly every play.
“They were bringing zero pressures,” McVay said. “We had some answers and ultimately we didn’t execute them and ultimately, the answers were not good enough on my part. That falls on me and had some things that we gave ourselves a chance later on but it was too late and couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had and made too many mistakes in the first half to give ourselves a chance.”
The Dolphins came into Week 8 with the fifth-highest blitz rate in the NFL. It was well known that Flores liked to send extra rushers on the blitz regularly, and it’s something the Rams should’ve been aware of.
But based on the way the offense looked, you’d think they had no idea Miami liked to blitz as much as Flores does. The offensive line has to be better and Goff must improve against the blitz, but McVay says it starts with him.
“Our execution has to be better. I have to coach better and I have to put our players in better positions and that’s the bottom line,” he said. “This is a sick taste in your mouth and mainly, I’m looking inward. I’ve got to do a better job. I can’t wait to look at this and work to get it fixed and that’s all I know how to do and we’ve got a lot of football left.”
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