Coaching malpractice dooms Los Angeles Rams in what should have been the easiest win of the season

The Rams Need Plenty of Change To Make a Super Bowl

From the get-go, it was clear where 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan was going to run his offense. He put the Rams' linebackers in the proverbial sniper scope, and hammered away at them all game long. The Rams simply had no answers to anything the 49ers threw at their linebackers, fooling their eyes with misdirection and exposing them one-on-one in coverage.

It wasn't much better with the rest of the Rams' defense. The 49ers had receivers open seemingly at will on the Rams' secondary, with Cobie Durant, Darious Williams, Jaylen McCollough, Quentin Lake, and Kamren Curl each getting ruthlessly exposed throughout. Nothing the Rams did or ran worked, though I will contend that I think they simply sat in zone coverage far, far too often than they should have. Nate Landman was targeted eight(!) times by the 49ers.

It wasn't much better in the secondary either. Darious Williams is past his prime at corner, Cobie Durant has never proven himself to be a consistent coverage option, and the safeties are slower than league average, and the 49ers knew it. The secondary gave up a combined 21 receptions for 251 yards, and Rams' defensive coordinator Chris Shula sat flummoxed for the entire game.

Despite being such a horrendous outing, somehow, the defense wasn't the worst unit on the field in the Rams' loss, and it's hard to choose which one ended the game feeling worse between the special teams or the offense. The Rams once more had a PAT blocked and a missed field goal, both of which could have won the Rams this game. It's the same blocking mistake they had against the Eagles that seemingly hasn't been corrected yet. It's complete malpractice.

However, the most egregious part of the game was Sean McVay's playcalling at the end of the game. Offensively, it felt like a really good game for the Rams. They racked up over 400 yards of offense, Puka Nacua set an all-time receiving record, and Matthew Stafford never turned the ball over. Yet, the Rams lost, due to one of the worst McVay red zone play calls in a tenure marred with plenty of bad ones.

On 4th and 1 in overtime with the Rams needing a touchdown, McVay opts to run the ball instead of trusting Matthew Stafford to make a play. To make this worse, he ran it up the middle, where the Rams have struggled all season long. Even worse: he ran it right at Fred Warner, the best linebacker of our generation. Even more worse: the 49ers knew what the playcall was.

McVay knew it from the get-go, admitting immediately after the game that it was a "bad call" that he takes full ownership of. It's completely baffling, considering the Rams weren't running the ball well all game long and Stafford was decimating the 49ers' secondary.

The Rams need a good, loooooooooong look in the mirror after this loss to San Francisco, as it is one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory. At least the Philadelphia Eagles were fully healthy and one of the most complete rosters in the NFL. A loss to them, while not good, is at least excusable or understandable (though how it happened was egregious). The 49ers had one healthy starter on their skill positions. Completely inexcusable. It's hard to trust this team making a serious playoff push against the best rosters in the league without some serious changes in every phase of the game.