The Rams lost to the Bills 37-34 in overtime. But more than the loss, head coach Sean McVay’s call and special teams mistake made things worse for them.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I wish I would’ve had a better play call and gone for it and gotten it a lot tighter,” Sean McVay said to the media postgame over his decision. “I’m sick right now with myself, and I’m so proud of that group. This is the tough part of sports, but I’m proud of that team.
“I’m proud of the way that we battled. And I’m sick that we came up short. I’ll be regretting kicking that and not having a better call to be able to go for it on third down and go to fourth or whatever it was. It’s on me.”
At 5:37 left in overtime, Matthew Stafford threw a short pass to Puka Nacua, who gained five yards and reached the Buffalo Bills’ 30-yard line. The Rams were now in field-goal range, but they needed more yards to improve their scoring opportunity. The play brought up second-and-five.
At 4:51, the Rams and Bills each used a timeout. After the break, Kyren Williams took a handoff and ran toward the right side of the offensive line. However, Bills linebacker Greg Rousseau and defensive back Daron Igbinosun stopped him for no gain. The Rams faced third-and-five at Buffalo’s 30-yard line, meaning they needed five yards to earn a new set of downs.
That’s when the problem began. Instead of trying another play to gain the required five yards, McVay sent kicker Harrison Mevis out for a 48-yard field goal that could have won the game. But Bills linebacker Greg Rousseau blocked the kick, and Buffalo went on to score a field goal on its next drive to win 37-34 in overtime.
What hurts even more is that the Bills have a 10-6 record against the Rams. And even McVay didn’t like it.
“This one is, this is the one, this stinks and it’s going to hurt, but we can’t afford to let it, we can’t let this team beat us twice, and we’re going to have to regroup and reset ourselves, and it’s been a while since I’ve been this pissed after a game too,” McVay said after the game. “No, there’s no, none of it makes me feel good right now. I’m proud of the effort, but none of it, none of how I feel, is positive.”
After this tough loss, it will be interesting to see how Sean McVay handles the situation with their special team and if any changes are coming in the future.