SEATTLE (AP) — Sean McVay was not inclined to address the future of his quarterback, Matthew Stafford, as he approaches 38 years of age. Instead, McVay focused on the disappointment of his team”s narrow defeat to the Seattle Seahawks, falling 31-27 in the NFC Championship game.
The Rams previously lost to Seattle in December, a nail-biting 38-37 finish that featured two successful two-point conversions by the Seahawks, leading to this latest setback that denied them a shot at a third Super Bowl title and a second in five years under McVay and Stafford.
“I”m never really short on words, and I am right now,” McVay admitted. “It”s tough, but this is sports, and you got to be able to deal with it.”
McVay”s play-calling was largely effective, with the Rams amassing 479 yards of offense compared to the Seahawks” 396. Stafford, a finalist for the MVP award, completed 22 of 35 attempts for 374 yards and threw three touchdowns. However, a critical decision to go for it on fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6-yard line with just under five minutes left ultimately backfired when Devon Witherspoon disrupted Stafford”s pass in the end zone.
“I thought about it, and didn”t decide to do it,” McVay reflected. “Obviously it didn”t work out for us. But I thought our guys played well. There were a lot of things that we got a lot of what we wanted today. Felt really good about the way that our guys executed, specifically on the offensive side. And you know, that was a situation where we just kind of came up short.”
Special teams blunders plagued the Rams throughout the season, and one such mistake occurred in the third quarter when Xavier Smith failed to secure a punt, allowing Seattle to recover. This miscue led to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Jake Bobo, extending the Seahawks” lead to 24-13. Earlier in the game, Smith had also struggled with a juggling punt.
“That one, it was costly,” McVay said. “I love him. He”s done a great job. … But that was a tough one.”
Each time Seattle took a lead of ten points or more, the Rams responded. Following Smith”s error, the NFL”s highest-scoring offense orchestrated consecutive touchdown drives, with Stafford finding Davante Adams for a 2-yard touchdown and later connecting with Puka Nacua for a 34-yard score.
“It was a battle,” Stafford stated. “The whole game wasn”t like we were all just waiting for one play here or there. There are a million plays in a football game that can turn the tide, and we had our opportunity and didn”t make it.”
If Stafford had been able to complete that crucial fourth-down pass, it would have marked the sixth game-winning drive of his playoff career and his third of the postseason. He had previously led Los Angeles to victory against the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round with a late touchdown pass and set up a game-winning field goal against the Chicago Bears in the divisional round.
For most of the match, Stafford effectively challenged the NFL”s top-ranked scoring defense. Yet, the Seahawks executed a few more key plays when it mattered most. “Great football team we just played,” Stafford concluded. “Feel like it”s a great effort, really good football game, obviously we didn”t come out on top. Tough pill to swallow at the moment.”
