Tag: Sean McVay

Rams are NFL’s worst passing offense on 3rd and 4th down, which is a huge problem

Advanced stats show a glaring inefficiency in the Rams’ offensive passing attack.

It’s no secret that the Rams have glaring offensive inefficiencies, especially during critical downs throughout the game. However, just how bad the Rams are on third down needs a closer study.

Despite having veteran passer Matthew Stafford, the Rams have the lowest EPA per dropback on third and fourth down this season. EPA (expected points added) essentially measures how well a team performs relative to expectations. The Rams have the lowest expectation in the league to convert on those critical downs via the pass.

As a result, defenses have been able to stack the box in order to plug the run and have been able to take aggressive chances on second down in an attempt to force a pass on third down. Overall, the Rams are 27th in the NFL in third-down conversion rate, moving the chains just 33.9% of the time.

These practices have stifled the Rams’ offensive output and until they address the root issues behind their inefficiencies, the problems will continue to plague the team.

When we look at these numbers and think about the Rams’ issues in the red zone, one would have to assume that when the field shrinks and windows get tighter, the Rams’ passing problems exacerbate. Pair that with Kyren Williams’ 3.9 yards per carry average in 2024 compared to his 5.0 in 2023, and thus the Achilles’ heel is revealed.

The Rams have a problem that gets teams knocked out of the playoff hunt. In 2023, the Rams used a heavy run game to open up the offense in the second half of the season. If the team can’t run effectively or pass down the field, maybe the screen pass – a play that doesn’t require a difficult catch and gets the ball away from the box – could be the key in 2024.

What Rams head coach said about Drake Maye after Patriots’ loss

Rams coach Sean McVay called Drake Maye “special” after Sunday’s game

Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay had high praise for New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye following the Rams’ 28-22 win over the Patriots on Sunday.

It was a stellar performance by Maye, who went 30-of-40 passing for 282 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He put the ball on receivers in tight windows, including an early touchdown dart to wide receiver Kendrick Bourne in the first quarter.

From there, he got into a rhythm and gave the Rams’ defensive line fits all afternoon.

“You can really see his ability to create plays off schedule. I thought he did a great job of being able to make plays in the pocket today, extend drives,” Rams coach Sean McVay said about Drake Maye after the game. “I thought he was patient, taking some underneath checkdowns where guys were able to create. We had some tighter coverages. and he was able to fit the ball into tight windows.

“He looks like a stud. I didn’t do too much work on him coming out, but I do know that a lot of people that studied him really hard, that I truly respect their opinions loved what he was all about. You can see the impact that he has on his teammates. The way people talk about him here. He looks like he’s gonna be a special player for a long time, and he gave us fits today.”

Sunday’s performance was another step in Maye’s development, despite the loss. People around the league are beginning to take notice of what he can do, including a Super Bowl-winning coach like McVay.

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Sean McVay sounds like a coach who’s lost trust in his kicker

Sean McVay admits the Rams punted late vs. the Patriots because he didn’t trust Joshua Karty to make a 52-yard FG

The Los Angeles Rams have a kicker problem. Again.

For the second straight season, the Rams rank near the bottom in the NFL in field goal accuracy. Rookie kicker Joshua Karty has struggled in his first 10 games of the season but unlike other positions, a kicker’s issues are always on full display – and the world watched him miss the shortest field goal in the league on Sunday.

Karty pushed a 26-yard attempt wide right, clanking the kick off the upright. It’s especially concerning that he started on the left hash, which tells you how far right he pushed the kick.

Fortunately, it didn’t cost the Rams a win as they beat the Patriots, 28-22, but it’s possible Karty’s inaccuracy could cost him his job. After the game, Sean McVay admitted he lost confidence in his rookie kicker late in the fourth quarter.

Rather than trying a 52-yard field goal to go up nine points and essentially end the game, the Rams punted and gave the Patriots the ball back with 2:22 left and only a six-point deficit.

“There wasn’t a lot of reason to feel great about that operation today,” McVay said. “Felt good about the defense. I thought Ethan (Evans) and our punt team did a good job of being able to pin them deep. Knowing they needed a touchdown, there wasn’t a whole lot of back and forth. Felt pretty convicted in that decision right there.”

That’s not something a kicker wants to hear. McVay didn’t single out Karty, pointing to the whole kicking “operation,” but it’s obvious what he was referring to. It’s not as if the snap or hold on Karty’s 26-yarder was bad.

McVay also mentioned it was “frustrating” to end that drive before halftime without points, especially with how short the field goal attempt was.

“Would’ve loved for us to come away with points at the end of the half,” he said. “You get all the way down there, it was a great drive by the offense. And for us to not come away with anything, that was frustrating.”

The Rams don’t have another kicker on the roster or practice squad. There are free agents available, but they’re available for a reason.

McVay hasn’t indicated he’s planning to make a kicking change but if Karty keeps missing, he might not have much of a choice. After 10 games, Karty is now 16-for-20 on field goal attempts and 15-for-17 on extra points.

What’s particularly concerning is only one of those misses has come from 50-plus yards, with the others coming between 25 and 49 yards.

The Rams will probably give Karty some leeway as a rookie, but this isn’t a problem they want to have again late in the season like they did last year.

Watch: Sean McVay gave out 6 game balls after Rams beat Patriots, including one to Jimmy G

Sean McVay gave out 6 game balls during his locker room speech, and even Jimmy Garoppolo got one in his return to New England.

Sean McVay was pleased with the way his team played on Sunday in their 28-22 win over the New England Patriots, a game that was much closer than it should’ve been. There are certainly things to clean up, which he alluded to in his postgame press conference, but it was a successful trip to Foxborough for the Los Angeles Rams.

In his postgame locker room speech, McVay applauded the job his players did and recognized six guys with game balls – including two coaches. He gave game balls to Braden Fiske and Kamren Kinchens for their turnover-producing plays, as well as Matthew Stafford for moving into 10th place all-time on the passing touchdowns list.

He also gave Jimmy Garoppolo, Jerry Schuplinski and Nick Caley game balls for coming away with a win against their former team.

None of those three former Patriots played in the game, but McVay wanted to recognize them for the jobs they’ve done all year. Garoppolo backs up Stafford, Schuplinski is a senior offensive assistant and Caley coaches the tight ends.

Sean McVay shared an exciting update on Rams TE Tyler Higbee, who’s nearing a return

Tyler Higbee has been out since tearing his ACL and MCL in January, but his return to the Rams is approaching

It won’t be long before Tyler Higbee is back on the field for the Los Angeles Rams. The veteran tight end has been sidelined since tearing his ACL and MCL in January’s playoff loss to the Detroit Lions but he’s nearing a return.

Sean McVay shared an encouraging update on Friday, telling reporters that Higbee is only “a couple weeks away” from returning from his knee injury. The Rams haven’t gotten much production from their trio of tight ends thus far, so Higbee being back at some point this season could provide a lift to the offense.

“He’s a couple of weeks away,” McVay said. “He looks great. He’s out here doing his thing and he’s leading in his own way. He has such a great way about himself, but I would say a couple weeks away for him.”

Higbee, 31, is currently on the PUP list and has been since training camp started. He can be activated at any time, but when he does return to the 53-man roster, the Rams will need to waive someone in order to make room.

That’s not something they’re thinking about right now, but it is good to know he’ll be back at some point this season.

Last year, Higbee caught 47 passes for 495 yards and two touchdowns, his fifth straight season with at least 40 catches, 490 yards and multiple touchdowns.

Sean McVay explains why Colby Parkinson’s role has shrunk significantly

Colby Parkinson went from playing almost every snap to being a backup, and Sean McVay explained why that is

With the Rams’ offense struggling, Sean McVay is looking for ways to get things back on track. One of the most notable changes in the last two weeks has been Colby Parkinson’s role.

A big free-agent addition, Parkinson’s playing time has dropped significantly in the last two weeks, seeing the field for just 43 total snaps after playing 46 snaps alone in Week 8. Against the Dolphins on Monday night, he was barely involved. He played just 11 total snaps and for the second straight week, he wasn’t targeted a single time.

Davis Allen has seemingly taken over as the top tight end on the depth chart and he’s coming off a five-catch game against Miami. On Wednesday, McVay was asked if Parkinson’s healthy considering how little he’s played, and he shared a bit about what’s led to that change.

“He is,” McVay said. “What we’re looking at is, I think (TEs coach Nick) Caley does a great job with those tight ends. It’s really just we’ve had some different personnel groupings and it’s really trying to maximize those three guys, both Davis, Hunter (Long), and obviously Colby. They’ve done some good things, but I think the strength of the unit is in that unit and being able to get all those guys involved.”

Parkinson was underperforming as a starter, catching just 23 passes for 214 yards so far this season. He’s also had his struggles as a blocker in the run game, and an illegal formation penalty against the Seahawks in Week 9 didn’t help his case, either.

It sounds like all three tight ends will continue to play each week but Parkinson has clearly fallen out of favor with the coaching staff in recent weeks and he may not go back to playing 80-plus percent of the snaps again.

Sean McVay explains questionable decision to kick short FG late vs. Dolphins

Analytics show the Rams should’ve gone for it on fourth-and-goal from the 4, but Sean McVay opted for yet another FG

Sean McVay may be a progressive coach with some of his offensive concepts and strategy, but when it comes to fourth-down decisions, he isn’t always as aggressive as he should be. Even though he’s improved in that area this season, he got conservative late against the Dolphins in the Rams’ 23-15 loss on Monday night.

The play in question? A fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line with 6:34 left in the game. At the time, the Rams were trailing 20-9 and had all three timeouts. A field goal would’ve made it an eight-point game (again), with a great chance that the Rams would get the ball back thanks to their allotment of timeouts.

They did get it back with 2:43 to play, but the problem is, the Dolphins added another field goal to increase their lead to 11 points – again.

According to the analytics, the Rams would’ve increased their win probability by going for it on fourth-and-4 instead of settling for a 22-yard field goal.

After the game, McVay was asked whether he considered going for it on fourth down.

“I did, but because it was a two-possession game and what had occurred, felt like kick it away,” he said. “Felt like the defense was playing really well right there. But because of just the flow of the overall game, that was what resulted in keeping it to a one-possession game.”

If the Rams didn’t convert, it’s highly unlikely they would’ve come back to win. But they didn’t win anyway, so it wouldn’t have made a difference. Had they converted on fourth down and scored a touchdown, they could’ve made it a 20-16 (or 20-17) game.

In that scenario, giving up a field goal on the next drive wouldn’t have made it a two-possession game like it did on Monday night. The Rams would’ve still been in it, at worst trailing by seven points with a few minutes left.

It’s always easy to second-guess decisions after the fact, but the Rams shouldn’t have gotten so conservative in that situation. Kicking another field goal did very little to help Los Angeles get back in the game.

Frustrated Sean McVay ends presser with 1 word to describe Rams offense

Sean McVay only had one word to describe the Rams’ offense, which failed to score a single touchdown on Monday night

Sean McVay is not happy with the way his offense played on Monday night. No coach would be. They put up 327 total yards of offense, but for just the second time in Matthew Stafford’s tenure, the Rams failed to score a single touchdown.

Their 23-15 loss to the Dolphins was deflating and potentially costly, sending them to 4-5 and below .500 once again. During his postgame press conference, McVay was asked what he was feeling in real-time during the game, and “frustration” was the first word that came to mind.

The last question he faced from the media was to evaluate and describe the state of the Rams offense.

He gave one word: “Inconsistent.”

He didn’t storm off by any means, but he was clearly frustrated by his offense’s performance – as he should be.

After scoring 30 points against the Vikings and 26 against the Seahawks in the last two weeks, the Rams were held to five field goals and just 15 points.

Matthew Stafford was sacked four times, hit six times and the Dolphins racked up seven tackles for a loss to go with an interception and two forced fumbles.

There was a bad snap that went over Stafford’s head, a lost fumble by Kyren Williams, a drop by Puka Nacua and poor play by Joe Noteboom at right tackle, to put it lightly. There were far too many mistakes across the board in a game that was very winnable thanks to another strong outing by the Rams’ defense.

Who is Sean McVay’s wife? Meet Veronika Khomyn.

Here’s what to know about the couple.

Sean McVay has risen to the top of the NFL coaching ranks with the Los Angeles Rams in a career that’s included a Super Bowl win.

And along the way, he’s started a family with wife Veronika Khomyn, who we’ve seen a bunch with him as they began their relationship. They welcomed their first child, Jordan, in October of 2023.

How did they meet? She was a realtor and model from Ukraine, but before that, she was attending college at Virginia when they met while he working as coach for the Washington Commanders before they got married in 2022.

Here are some photos of the pair:

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 13: (L-R) Veronika Khomyn and Sean McVay attend the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images ) 
Jul 28, 2018; Irvine, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay (left) and girlfriend Veronika Khomyn during training camp at UC Irvine. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Sean McVay’s use of the screen pass has opened up the Rams offense

Sean McVay deployed a screen attack to great success in the last two weeks. Here’s why it was so effective.

Brian Flores left the field at SoFi Stadium floored as his once-feared Minnesota Vikings defense was put on its back foot by Sean McVay’s quick-paced offense.

McVay recognized several tendencies of a Flores-coached defense and schemed ways to beat it. Flores’ defenses like to stack the line of scrimmage with defenders, play aggressively and he likes to run two-high safety looks.

This strategy forces offenses to play in shotgun, which limits the north-south run. Offenses must get the ball out quickly due to the pressure and the two high safeties take away a one-on-one matchup deep downfield.

By stacking the line of scrimmage, Flores disguises his coverages and who will drop back, confusing QBs. Convention says to run against two high safeties but a stacked line of scrimmage prevents that.

It’s a beautifully designed defense that has been largely used around the league, just not at the same aggression level of Flores. Mike Macdonald runs a similar defense with some of the same philosophies so Sean McVay’s use of the screen pass helped beat both defenses in back-to-back weeks.

The one weakness to a Flores defense is that the outside corner cannot play press coverage as there would be a seam between where the corner sits and where the safety is – unless it’s man coverage. However, it is rare to see man coverage run in this scenario as the receiver going inside would take the DB with him, leaving that flank exposed, especially if said flank was without a nickelback.

So the corner must play off the ball, opening up a lane for the WR screen. Being forced into shotgun means Stafford got the ball in his hands quicker and since he didn’t have to do a standard drop-back pass, he could flick it to Puka Nacua with relative ease.

Since the line of scrimmage was stacked with defenders, the leaking left tackle could seal the cornerback, opening a lane for Nacua, who had a one-on-one opportunity with the deep safety.

Recognizing that McVay planted an opportunity to get a one-on-one matchup where if the defender fails to secure the tackle, the play will go for six, Flores brought his linebackers off of the line of scrimmage into a standard nickel shell.

With only four down linemen on Minnesota’s defense, the Rams could return to putting Stafford under center and running the ball up the middle, establishing the north-south rushing attack.

It will be interesting to see how McVay uses the screen in the future, especially on third down as defenses tend to get aggressive. But it’s something to note as it broke Flores’ defensive structure, exposing Macdonald’s structure just one week later.