Sean McVay made a change Sunday.
The coach didn’t change quarterbacks or change his play-calling because of his quarterback’s recent blunders, but he changed his habit of blaming all Rams losses on himself.
After the Rams lost 23-20 to a San Francisco 49ers team missing its starting quarterback and several other stars because of injuries and COVID-19, McVay singled out Jared Goff for criticism.
Monday, McVay took pains to pledge his support for Goff and say it was actually a sort of compliment when he criticized the quarterback for three turnovers and other unnamed key players for letting a win get away.
“I think it’s a result of the confidence that I have in the people. I wouldn’t say things if I didn’t know there was broad shoulders to be able to handle it,” McVay said.
“I know he (Goff) can acknowledge it, and we can all be honest about the expectations. I’m not going to apologize for the high expectations that I have in him.”
McVay acknowledged, too, that he usually says players’ failures are the result of his own failure to put them in position to succeed.
“Maybe while it was a little bit different approach, I think it was something that was honest, that I know he’s capable of correcting,” McVay said of Sunday’s comments.
“Jared knows I support him,” McVay said.
The coach said he never considered benching Goff and hasn’t changed his play selection as a result of Goff’s struggles because he’s always trying to “minimize risk exposure.”
“We’re never going to be an outfit that’s afraid to go and attack success,” McVay said.
Goff threw two interceptions, one of which was returned 27 yards for a touchdown by the 49ers’ Javon Kinlaw, and committed one of the Rams’ two fumbles on Sunday.
He has given the ball away with six interceptions and four fumbles in the Rams’ past four games, beginning with his four turnovers in the first half of the loss at Miami.
“Our quarterback has to take better care of the football,” a raspy McVay said after the game at SoFi Stadium.
Goff didn’t shrink from the truth, saying Sunday he has to be “smarter with the ball.”
“I may be good at other parts of the job right now, but that’s (protecting the ball) the main part and that’s something I need to be a lot better in,” Goff said.
McVay got specific Monday about one way the quarterback must be smarter.
“Sometimes the best play is to take a sack and not feel you’ve got to get it out of your hand and force it when there’s not a lot of options there,” McVay said.
The loss dropped the Rams (7-4) from first to second place in the NFC West and from second to fifth in the notional NFC playoff seedings. They would have gone back into first in the division and up to third in the conference if Seattle (8-3) had lost at Philadelphia on Monday night.
There’s little room for more errors like Sunday’s since the Rams are 1-7 over five seasons when Goff has three or more turnovers.
Not that the turnovers, which led directly to only one 49ers score, were the only problem with the Rams’ offense in a game they lost on Robbie Gould’s last-second, 42-yard field goal.
On 10 drives that didn’t end in giveaways, the offense produced one touchdown, two field goals and seven punts, and averaged a sickly 5.1 yards per play.
The team began studying film of the loss to San Francisco (5-6) early Monday as it started preparing to play the Cardinals (6-5) in Arizona on Sunday.
Right guard Austin Corbett was asked how Rams players reacted to McVay’s rare (for him) step of blaming players’ execution for the loss.
“That’s exactly what it is, right?” Corbett said. “Sean does a great job of calling the plays, you know, getting this offense ready, but he’s not the one out there on the field.
“That’s our responsibility. We’re the ones who’ve got to go make plays. We’ve got to go make blocks, run the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball.”
Corbett said the famously even-keeled Goff shoulders blame during games.
“(He’s) just like every other competitor, right? You make a mistake, it’s going to hurt. You can see the hurt. You’re not a robot. You know you messed up, whatever,” Corbett said.
“But when he’s on the sideline, he’s always coming over to the offensive line, ‘Hey, boys, that’s on me. We can do this. We’re going to be fine.’ It’s the same thing (from us), ‘Hey, Jared, don’t worry about that. We’re going to move on. You’re going to make plays. That’s what you do, that’s who you are. We’re going to do our jobs so you can do yours.’”
Job one is to hold onto the ball.
ENDS AND ODDS
McVay reported no serious injuries in the 49ers game but said cornerback Jalen Ramsey hurt a hip during warmups, which is why he played only 69% of their defensive snaps. … Matt Gay made two field goals and an extra point, the first time in seven games that the Rams didn’t miss a kick. “I think we found a guy that we feel really good about as we move forward,” McVay said of his third kicker this season. … Defensive lineman Aaron Donald was credited with the 19th forced fumble of his career, the one defensive back Troy Hill picked up and ran in for a touchdown. That’s the fourth-most in the NFL since Donald joined the Rams in 2014. …
Early betting on Sunday’s game at Arizona has the Rams favored over the Cardinals by 2-1/2 points, with an over-under line of 48-1/2. That works out, approximately, to a 25-23 Rams win. The Rams have scored 25 points or more just once in their past six games. … A mark of the Rams’ inconsistency, unpredictability, or something: Their past six games have all been won by the team with the worse record coming in. … Corbett, who has played every offensive snap in his first full season with the Rams, said becoming a father makes him feel as if he’s playing for something more now. Corbett and his wife Madison Morell had a boy on Sept. 8. “He’s definitely going to be an offensive lineman,” Corbett said. “He’s massive.”
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