The Sporting Tribune's Arash Markazi was in Seattle for the NFC Championship Game and writes that for the first time iSean McVay didn't have all the answers.
SEATTLE — When it was over, Sean McVay didn’t know what to do.
Coaching in his first game in his 40s after celebrating his birthday Saturday, the man who had accomplished more than any head coach in NFL history by the age of 39 was in uncharted territory.
He had never coached in an NFC Championship Game he had lost.
He had won the previous two, once at home and once on the road, and knew exactly what he would do after the Rams won in Seattle. He knew what he would tell his team, his family and the media as he prepared for the two-week run-up to the Super Bowl.
But this? Walking off the field on the losing end after another Rams comeback fell short?
He had not planned for this.
For the first time in his nine-year head coaching career, the most prepared coach in the league was lost.
“I didn’t ever expect this,” McVay said. “We came here with the expectation to win. We had our chances to win. I love this team. It’s one of my all-time favorites. I’ll be honest with you guys right now; there’s nothing but gratitude for these guys. I’m pretty numb.
“The finality of all of it, when you don’t think about anything other than just advancing. I felt like we were going to be the team on that podium and we weren’t. I’m never really short on words but I am right now.”
No team comes into a game of this magnitude expecting to lose, but the Rams were in a daze as they walked off the field and back to their locker room. It was as if the ending of a movie they had seen a hundred times before was suddenly changed. This wasn’t the way any of them had envisioned the season ending.
Certainly not Matthew Stafford, who appeared to be putting the finishing touches on an MVP season that was supposed to end with another trip to the Super Bowl.
Stafford finished the game completing 22 of 35 passes for 374 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. In a season littered with records, he added one he would rather not have. Stafford became the first quarterback in NFL postseason history to throw for at least 350 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers and still lose.
In his last two games in Seattle — two heartbreaking losses that will define this Rams season — Stafford completed 51 of 64 passes for 831 yards, six touchdowns and no turnovers and lost both times.
In both instances, costly special teams miscues and defensive mistakes doomed the Rams as they surrendered more than 30 points in each loss.
After the game, Stafford wasn’t interested in talking about his two incomplete passes on third and fourth down at the Seahawks’ 6-yard line with less than five minutes remaining and the Rams trailing 31-27. He also wasn’t ready to say whether he would be back next season, still processing how the greatest statistical season of his career ended one game short of the Super Bowl.
“I can’t generalize six months of my life 10 minutes after a loss,” Stafford said. “I appreciate the guys in this locker room a whole hell of a lot and everybody that helped me and our team be as successful as we were this year.”
Standing near Stafford at his locker was Puka Nacua, who, much like his quarterback, could not have played much better in his last two games in Seattle. Nacua finished with nine receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown Sunday and totaled 12 catches for 390 yards and three touchdowns over his last two games at Lumen Field.
“Matthew was phenomenal,” Nacua said. “He always does a great job of making plays for us in the moments we need them, reading the defense and putting the ball where it needs to be.”
Nacua was hard on himself, knowing the game will likely be remembered for the Rams coming up short on third and fourth down late, with a chance to take the lead.
“We had our opportunities in the red zone and I just wasn’t on the same page as Matthew,” Nacua said. “The opportunities I missed — those moments flash through your head. I apologize to the defense for putting them in those situations.”
It was an apology Rams defensive tackle Kobie Turner — and the defense — didn’t want to hear. While the missed chances replayed in Nacua’s mind, Turner was thinking about the team bonding in Hawaii during minicamp and the path back next season, when Super Bowl LXI will be played at SoFi Stadium.
“We are the closest group I’ve ever been a part of, and these scars will continue to heal us,” Turner said. “I can’t wait to come back next year and continue to build on this. We talk about building memories that last on and off the field. The biggest memory I want to make is hoisting that Lombardi Trophy, and we’ll have another chance to do it.”
Category: General Sports
