McVay looks ‘forward’ to Rams’ stretch run

Everything the Los Angeles Rams do from here on out to the end of the regular season is dependent on the men in that locker room. In other words, their playoff destiny lay squarely on their shoulders. 

“For us, we’ve got six games guaranteed left,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “I want to see us do everything in our power to commit to doing the best of our ability in every single thing that we can do, coaches and players alike on a consistent basis day in and day out. Let’s see where that leaves us. We can’t sit there and watch other people. If we don’t handle what we’re supposed to handle, it all is irrelevant.” 

Three of the six games the Rams have on their schedule are against NFC West Division opponents. Two of the three games will be played at SoFi Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. 

A matchup against the San Francisco 49ers will be a road game for McVay’s team. The good news for McVay and the Rams is that the NFC West title is up for grabs. The Rams are only one game out of first place, which the Seahawks and Cardinals occupy.

The Rams lost to the Cardinals earlier this season but handed both the 49ers and Seahawks defeats. Now comes the challenge of securing victory against all three divisional opponents one more time, which may be a very tall task to climb.   

Coming off what he describes as a “humbling” Sunday Night Football loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, McVay is eager to see how his team responds to the challenge.

“I’m looking forward to learning about ourselves down this stretch,” McVay said. “There’s been a lot of learning. There’s been a lot of growth. There have been a lot of uncomfortable moments that you don’t always love, but sometimes when you reflect back on it, that is where the most growth can occur. I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond again to a disappointing night.”  

The key for the Rams in their remaining six games is getting off to a fast start offensively, running the football and converting on third down. The Rams are 4-2 since their Week 6 bye week. The two defeats to the Miami Dolphins and the Eagles have several things in common. 

The Rams went 0 for 8 in converting third downs against the Eagles. In a 23-15 defeat to the Dolphins, LA went 3 for 12 on third down. The second item the Rams will need to fix is putting points on the board early. The Rams popped in just two field goals in the first half against Miami.    

In falling to the Eagles 37-20, the Rams scored seven points through the first two quarters of play. And not so coincidentally, the Rams failed to rush for 100 yards in both defeats. For the Rams to make the postseason those numbers will have to improve.   

“I want to see if we can be able to focus forward and see if we can put together in 39 days, when our players get back tomorrow, of our best stuff,” McVay remarked. “Six games and 39 days total is guaranteed to us. We’re going to see if we can maximize that. My full focus and concentration is going to be exclusively on that.”