Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay on field against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second half of the pre season game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Denny Medley-Imagn Images
The Los Angeles Rams are having a crisis of confidence at 2-3. LA came up short on Monday Night Football, losing an overtime thriller with Buffalo 37-34. Sean McVay has to be upset with how one unit on the team keeps screwing up.
Sheil Kapadia from The Ringer shared some statistics about one key area where McVay is still struggling. The Rams have struggled on special teams under McVay's leadership and it keeps costing them wins.
“Rams special teams came into Week 5 ranked 32nd in DVOA. They've been 26th or worse in four of the last five seasons,” Kapadia wrote. “Maybe the one thing McVay can't figure out, and it continues to cost them games.”
The Rams experienced multiple special teams gaffes on Monday night. First, Harrison Mevis missed a 50-yard field goal attempt during the first half. Those three points would have given the Rams some comfortable cushion during the middle stages of the game. Instead, it gave the Bills more momentum and kept the score pretty close. LA also allowed a 70-yard kickoff return by Ray Davis to start the game.
But the big mistake that everyone is talking about happened in overtime.
Mevis attempted a potential game-winning kick during overtime against the Bills. Unfortunately, Mevis' attempt was blocked by Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau. To make matters worse, Bills kicker Tyler Bass ended the game shortly afterwards with a 45-yard field goal.
According to ESPN, the Rams have had 81 kicks blocked or missed since the beginning of the McVay era. They've also had three kicks blocked since the start of the 2025 season.
The fact that LA had multiple special teams gaffes was bad enough. But some Rams fans and members of the media were shocked that McVay did not trust Matthew Stafford to end the game. The defending league MVP was on fire in Week 5, logging 383 passing yards with three touchdowns and zero turnovers.
LA should feel a sense of urgency to start winning games immediately. Otherwise, their all-or-nothing season could end in serious disappointment.
Next up for the Rams is a Week 6 matchup against the Cardinals.