Sean McVay Blames One Rams Position Group for Monday Night Football Loss
Finally healthy and coming into their own, it looked like the Los Angeles Rams were on the right track to get themselves back into playoff contention heading into Monday Night Football in Week 10. That excitement was short lived, however, as an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins sent L.A. back under .500, making it a very tough slog to the playoffs in a conference that has seven teams with six-plus wins already.
Usually pretty even-keeled even after a loss, Sean McVay couldn't avoid putting some of the blame for Monday's loss on the Rams players — specifically the offensive line. He tried his hardest to dial it back, but he made it completely clear that the line was a major issue.
Sean McVay, on how the Rams' offensive line played tonight: "It didn't seem very...It seemed like, you know, I want to be able to look at the tape. But there was a lot of things that were not in alignment with what we're looking for."
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) November 12, 2024
It's easy to see where McVay's frustration is coming from, too. This has been an issue all season. It's hard to think of one game where the line's play seemed to be "in alignment with what we're looking for."
PFF has the Rams graded No. 30 in pass blocking and No. 16 in run blocking. But there's actually some reason to be excited about the unit turning things around.
First of all, that was actually a pretty good performance compared to what we usually see from this unit in pass protection. Their 64.9 pass block grade (again, per PFF) was the second-highest the team has managed in any game this season, which comes the week after setting a season-high against the Seahawks.
And the worst individual performances were from Joe Noteboom and Jonah Jackson — both of whom were playing their first games back after missing significant time with injuries. Neither one is expected to be a Pro Bowl level lineman or anything, but we've seen that they're both capable of much more than they showed on Monday.
The problem is that the Rams are running out of time to turn things around. The runway for things to improve, or for encouraging signs to create optimism is getting very short. In all likelihood it will take at least 10 wins to even earn a Wild Card spot in the NFC this season, and that means the Rams would need to go 6-2 or better for the remainder of the year.
Accordingly, FanDuel Sportsbook now has the Rams' odds to make the playoffs down to a distant +470.
More Los Angeles Rams news and rumors:
feed
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.