An 18-16 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals, a team riding a brutal four-game losing streak, landed like a haymaker for the Rams on Sunday. After the final buzzer, head coach Sean McVay didn’t pull any punches, laying out the ugly truth of their performance. This wasn’t one of those games where you could find an excuse, and McVay knew it.
A Humbling Day for McVay
McVay has had his reasons for previous losses this season. An unprecedented travel schedule for the 49ers game in Australia, a controversial pass interference call in Denver that changed everything, or special teams issues against the Bills, arguably the AFC’s best team, just six days prior. But Sunday’s gut punch against the Cardinals? There was no convenient excuse, plain and simple. McVay was clear about it, telling reporters he was still trying to figure out how to fix the “critical errors” and “self-inflicted mistakes.” He admitted, “I don’t have those answers right now, otherwise it would’ve gotten fixed.” Ouch. He summed up the entire game with a blunt, “Nothing positive I can say about today,” calling it, “A humbling day.” Talk about being in the mud.
The Rams Keep Beating Themselves
The offense was straight-up rough. They didn’t even scrape together double-digit points until the final minute of the fourth quarter. It wasn’t just a lack of scoring, though, it was the same old story: mistakes. Tyler Higbee fumbled in the fourth quarter, and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Rams side accelerated the Cardinals’ game-winning drive. It’s almost like they were playing against themselves, not just the Cardinals. McVay hit it right on the head, saying, “We won’t win a game unless we figure out how not to beat ourselves.” He pointed to “so many unforced errors, so many things that are not in alignment with what we want to do, specifically on the offensive side of the ball.” You can practically feel his frustration through the quotes.
This team was supposed to be a Super Bowl favorite preseason, remember? Now they’re getting humbled by a team on a four-game skid. They’ve got four games coming up against teams at .500 or worse, so maybe that’s a chance to get right. But Sunday was a harsh reminder: you can’t take anything for granted in this league. They need to figure out these self-inflicted wounds, and fast, or this season is going to slip away before they know it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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