Sean McVay Has Failed To Push Right Buttons For Rams’ Dream Team; Now It’s Panic Time

SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California) — Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams compared his team’s latest surprising setback — this one an 18-16 heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals — to being stuck in a torrential downpour in sunny Southern California. “You’re either in the storm, coming out of the storm or going into the storm,” Williams said after the Cardinals stormed SoFi Stadium following Chad Ryland’s game-winning field goal at the buzzer. “Right now, we’re in the middle of a storm. It’s raining. It’s not shining at all. That’s why we’ve got to continue to keep working.” Yes, it does occasionally rain in Southern California, and the Rams haven’t been able to dodge puddle-sized raindrops since the team’s disastrous, misguided trip to Australia to start the year. The heavy favorite to start the year, earning the “Dream Team” moniker because of blockbuster offseason trades for Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie (who both did not play on Sunday due to injury), the Rams have embarrassingly stumbled out of the gate to a 2-4 record. And the Rams have now joined a list no team with title aspirations wants to be on. Los Angeles is the fifth outright preseason Super Bowl favorite with a losing record through six games in the past 50 seasons, joining the 2015 Seahawks, 2002 Rams, 1999 Vikings and 1987 Giants, per FOX Sports Research. None of those four previous teams reached a conference championship game, and, of course, the Rams will try not to join them. But for that to happen, the team will have to go through some extensive soul-searching as they prepare to face the Las Vegas Raiders on the road next week. Rams head coach Sean McVay understood this would be one of the toughest coaching jobs of his career. He’s been adept at leading teams with big personalities in years past, including a Super Bowl winning team that included Von Miller, Odell Beckham Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Eric Weddle. Like those teams, McVay has had to manage big personalities like Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald this season. But this year, McVay has struggled to put it all together and get those boisterous personalities to play with passion and to their full potential. And McVay knows it, too. “I have to do a better job and figure out how exactly we settle guys down,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said following Sunday’s loss. “But we’ve had some really critical errors at some really unfortunate times. That’s what our narrative has been this year. And we can’t keep saying that we haven’t done that before, because this year we are doing it. “We have to be able to fix it. And it’s my job to do that.” This part of the schedule was supposed to be the easy stretch for Los Angeles. After a tough five weeks to open the year, Weeks 6-10 consisted of facing the Cardinals twice to go along with the games against the Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders. But as it stands, with the Rams stubbing their toe on offense with pre-snap penalties, uncharacteristic, unforced errors and turnovers, they’ll be lucky to beat any of those teams. “It’s definitely a reality check,” running back Blake Corum said. “But we know that we’re good. We know we have the guys. We know we have the culture. We know we have the team. But, like Coach [McVay] said, it’s time to get back to work. We have to watch this film and see where things aren’t aligning and then fix those things.” The problem is, this team, considered the best in the NFL, is struggling to compete against the bad teams. The Cardinals are playing for draft position and the right to land a franchise quarterback next April. Their only other win this season is against the other team from L.A.: the Chargers, who are one of only two remaining winless teams after Sunday’s games. New Arizona head coach Mike LaFleur now has more wins at SoFi Stadium (2-0) this season than both teams in Los Angeles (the Rams and Chargers have a combined one win at SoFi Stadium this season). But he and the Cardinals have struggled outside of Southern California. They entered Sunday’s contest with the worst-ranked scoring defense in the league, but held the Rams to 286 total yards and 16 points as Los Angeles also failed to convert on both of its fourth-down tries. “We have to go out there and grind and we’ve got to stop hurting ourselves,” center Coleman Shelton told me. “You can’t go out there and play against two teams every time we play a game. We can’t play against them and against ourselves. We’ve got to be a team, go to work and do our best to put ourselves in the right position.” “I think it’s a whole host of things,” tight end Colby Parkinson told me when I asked about the unforced errors. “Lack of focus is definitely at the top. But we have to be more clued in, play in and play out, just focusing on the one play. I think as a whole we can all do better at that.” Special teams were once again an issue for Los Angeles. New kicker Blake Grupe made a 44-yard field goal to start the game, but on the ensuing kickoff, the Rams gave up another big return and Grupe had to make the tackle, injuring his knee. Grupe’s leg was in a brace in the locker room afterward, and Los Angeles had to use punter Ethan Evans for field goals and kicks. Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett served as the holder. Because of the injury, McVay went for a two-point conversion after Corum’s 15-yard touchdown catch in the first half, which led to Matthew Stafford absorbing a vicious, blindsided hit by Arizona edge rusher Josh Sweat that caused a fumble. Speaking of Stafford, he finished 25 of 32 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Lead running back Kyren Williams, meanwhile, only had 10 carries for 50 yards. Williams did play 71.4% of the offensive snaps, though, but he still suggested he would’ve liked to have been more involved in the offense. Asked why his team’s offensive energy was inconsistent, Williams bluntly said: “I can’t tell you. Probably because I’m not out there.” Williams’ comment and apparent swipe at his coach quickly gained traction on social media following Sunday’s game, but he’s still bought into turning things around. McVay and the Rams can take solace in the fact that they’ve been here before as well. They started 1-4 in 2024 and finished 10-7, making the playoffs. The year before that, they started 3-6 and finished 10-7, reaching the postseason after going 5-12 in 2022. “You use this adversity for moments in the future that’s going to allow us to be who we want to be,” Williams said. “You go through things in life so that it helps you grow. When you’re uncomfortable, that’s where real growth occurs. So, right now, obviously we’re uncomfortable with where we’re at in the standings and losing these games. “But that’s where we really have to dig down deep, have the faith that we know that we have and continue to work. The work works. And believing in the work.”