Sean McVay was visibly frustrated during his postgame press conference after the Rams’ 24-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday. One of the first questions he was asked was about the questionable spot on Kenny Pickett’s sneak, which clinched the win for the Steelers.
Pickett appeared to come up short of the first-down line but officials spotted him beyond the sticks, giving the Steelers a first down just before the two-minute warning. The Rams were out of timeouts so they couldn’t challenge the spot, leaving McVay to look on in frustration as the time ticked away to zero.
The Rams coach didn’t show much interest in talking about the controversial spot, but he did indicate he disagreed with how things played out.
“It doesn’t matter what I think. That was the spot they made,” he said.
Was this a first down?
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McVay was asked if he would’ve challenged the spot if he still had a timeout in his pocket, but he didn’t really give an answer. Obviously, in that situation, he would have, knowing the game was on the line.
He said the Rams have to live with the call was made, even if they don’t agree.
“It’s not a challengeable play that I could – I’m not going to sit here and make any excuses about stuff that didn’t go down,” he said. “Those plays shouldn’t have come down to that if we execute like we were capable of. You guys saw the same stuff that I did, but it doesn’t do any good. That’s what was called and that’s what we have to be able to live with.”
The Rams are now 3-4 and heading into the final two games before their bye: at Dallas and at Green Bay. They badly need to win at least one of those games because otherwise, they’ll be 3-6 with some tough games still remaining.