The Los Angeles Rams are still reeling from their heartbreaking loss to the San Francisco 49ers Thursday night. While the team has suffered two extremely tough defeats this season due to self-inflicted mistakes in games they were in position to win, there is some silver lining going forward as LA’s schedule seems to lend a relief of sorts in the coming weeks. It’s a schedule a team looking to get back on track could desperately use.
After three straight weeks of games against divisional leaders, the Rams will now head into a stretch where they play a Raven’s team likely without QB Lamar Jackson, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers and the Cardinals. They will also have a chance to play the Seattle Seahawks, who McVay holds an 11-5 record over since 2017, as well as a revenge game against the 49ers. Of the Rams’ five losses to Seattle since 2017, only one has been by more than six points and up until last night, LA held a three game winning-streak over San Francisco too, so they have had success against both division foes in the recent past.
Yes, over the next eight weeks the Rams will have those two rivalry games with the Seahawks and 49ers, as well as a November matchup against the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but outside of those three games their opponents hold a record of 7-13. Furthermore, out of the Ravens, Jaguars, Saints, Panthers and Cardinals, only Jacksonville holds a winning record at the moment with the other four teams combining for a 4-12 record.
Now, it’s an “any given Sunday” type of league, meaning that records don’t matter too much if you don’t perform in the games you’re suppose to win. However, it never hurts to have a few lower pressure games that could potentially help a team get “tuned up” so to speak.
So what do the Rams need to fix in these games?
Los Angeles has directly lost two games due to two reasons, the first being their special teams blunders. Against some lower-end competition, the Rams need to find a better combination along the field goal unit’s interior offensive line, as the current group is being pushed around and driven backwards. Maybe that answer is the return of guard Steve Avila, maybe it’s bringing in someone else, but LA has had four blocked field goals in the last four games alone and it’s absolutely crucial they figure it out quick. Some teams don’t have that many in entire seasons.
“Oh man, I wish it was just one thing,” McVay said Friday. “When you watch the protection, we have to fix it. It’s not one thing in particular. There are different locations, spots and people that have not executed the way that we’re capable of. We’ve got to consistently use better techniques. I thought we had a hold on it. I thought we did a good job against Indianapolis. I thought we had a good handle on it and clearly I was not right in that. We have to fix it. We have to go back to work, we have to get the right techniques, and we have to get the right people on there because that has been a killer for us and it’s cost us two games.”
The second issue is pretty obvious, and it’s RB Kyren Williams consistent fumbles in the worst possible moments. This goes back to the NFC Divisional round where he put one on the ground that very well could be pointed to as a reason the Rams got knocked out of the 2024 playoffs. He fumbled in the Eagles loss where Los Angeles blew a 26-7 lead, and he fumbled on the 1-yd line for the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes to go against San Fran Thursday Night.
After getting a large 3-year $33 million contract extension in the offseason, his propensity to put the ball on the turf has become extremely alarming given the Rams commitment to him going forward. One could say it might be time to look at back up Blake Corum a little more closely, however he also lost a fumble last night.
Self-inflicted losses have not been an identity of McVay teams of the past, but it’s becoming more and more consistent in 2025 and that’s not good. QB Matthew Stafford and wideouts Puka Nacua and Davante Adams have played lights out, but even 300+ yard passing performances and historic catching stats can’t always overcome constant mistakes and turnovers in other phases.
While records will say otherwise, I firmly believe the Eagles didn’t beat the Rams this year, nor the 49ers, Los Angeles beat themselves in both games by making game-changing mistakes and missing opportunities for points that normally should be automatic. The team will have a few weeks to right these wrongs against some lesser ranked opponents, while trying to put some W’s back in the win column. Make no mistake though, if they don’t fix these issues and continue to squander points and drives away, no other team’s bad record alone is going to save them.
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