Sean McVay showed little interest in discussing the future of Matthew Stafford, his nearly 38-year-old quarterback, as the Los Angeles Rams faced another disappointing defeat against the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams fell 31-27 in the NFC Championship Game, marking yet another missed opportunity to advance to the Super Bowl. This loss came just two months after a previous 38-37 defeat in Seattle, where the Seahawks converted critical two-point conversions both in regulation and overtime.
“I”m never really short on words, and I am right now,” McVay stated following the game. “It”s tough, but this is sports, and you got to be able to deal with it.” While there was one controversial moment when the Rams opted to go for it on fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6-yard line with less than five minutes remaining while trailing by four points, McVay generally had his team performing well. The Rams accumulated 479 yards of offense compared to the Seahawks” 396 yards.
Stafford, an MVP finalist, completed 22 of 35 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns. Before the pivotal fourth-down attempt, McVay appeared to contemplate calling a timeout but ultimately decided against it. This led to Devon Witherspoon breaking up a pass intended for Stafford 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.”
In the third quarter, the Rams faced yet another special teams blunder when Xavier Smith muffed a punt, allowing Seattle to recover. This led to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to Jake Bobo, giving the Seahawks a 24-13 lead. McVay acknowledged the impact of Smith”s mistake, stating, “That one, it was costly. I love him. He”s done a great job. … But that was a tough one.”
Despite the setbacks, the Rams managed to respond each time Seattle extended its lead. The NFL”s leading scoring offense rallied with back-to-back touchdown drives following Smith”s error. Stafford connected with Davante Adams for a 2-yard touchdown and later found Puka Nacua for a 34-yard touchdown reception. “It was a battle,” Stafford said. “The whole game wasn”t like we were all just waiting for one play here or there. There”s 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 successfully completed that fourth-down pass, it could have marked the sixth game-winning drive of his playoff career, and his third this postseason. He had previously guided the Rams to victory over the Carolina Panthers with a late touchdown pass and set up Harrison Mevis for a game-winning field goal against the Chicago Bears in the divisional round. For most of the game, Stafford outperformed the NFL”s top-ranked defense, but the Seahawks managed to make crucial plays when it mattered most. “Great football team we just played,” Stafford noted. “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.”
