Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay seethed after his club blew a chance to win Monday night with a blocked field goal, ultimately losing 37-34 to the Buffalo Bills in overtime.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been this pissed after a game,” McVay said via the Associated Press.
McVay had every right to be upset. He should first direct his ire at the man in the mirror.
The coach's decision to take his foot off the gas after the Rams pushed past the 35-yard line on the final drive was an unexcusable gaffe. His kicker, Harrison Mevis, already missed one kick on the night and doesn’t have the strongest leg. Settling for a 48-yard kick was asking for trouble.
The Rams' special teams have long been an issue. The team didn’t fix it this offseason, and the problems reared their head Monday night. From the opening kickoff, the unit was wobbly, allowing Ray Davis to return a kickoff 70 yards. On the Rams' first drive, Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal. Then came the block.
McVay said he plans to “evaluate everything” about his kicking unit.
"In the kicking game, especially with our PAT, field goal, not even close to good enough," he said. "It cost us the game tonight."
Special teams has always been a blind spot for McVay. Monday’s block was L.A.'s third since the start of 2025, and they’ve missed or had kicks blocked 81 times in McVay’s tenure, per ESPN.
"I felt like I hit it good," Mevis said. "That's all I can tell you. I mean, I hit it good, gave it a chance. I'll have to look."
On a night when Matthew Stafford looked like his MVP-self, generating 383 yards on 40 of 54 passing with three TDs and zero INTs, the other phases cost them the game. The Rams D got run over by James Cook (25/111/2) and Josh Allen (10/121/1), and while they slowed the pass, got burned by penalties that set up Bills scores.
In the end, the special teams unit took the brunt of the blame for not ending the game when they had the chance. McVay knows he should have tried to get much closer before settling for the overtime kick.
"I'm sick that we came up short, and I'll be regretting kicking that and not having a better call to be able to go for it on third down and go to fourth or whatever it was," McVay said. "And that's on me."
The Rams fell to 2-3, 3.5 games back of the division-leading San Francisco 49ers.