INGLEWOOD, Calif. — On Sunday at SoFi Stadium, the Rams fell to the Cardinals 18-16 in Los Angeles' second game against a divisional opponent so far this season. The Rams fell just short after scoring a touchdown with 47 second left in the game before allowing the game-winning field goal from 43 yards out.
Head coach Sean McVay, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Puka Nacua spoke postgame on what they thought contributed to the loss.
"There were some gutsy individual efforts that I am appreciative of. But collectively, even if we had come away with the result, it's just not good enough. There's just so many things that aren't in alignment with what we need to be able to do, and we got to be able to figure it out." - McVay
One group McVay thought played well collectively was the defense. On the Cardinals' five red zone trips, the Rams' defense didn't allow a single touchdown and forced a field goal on each. "I thought our defense did enough to keep us in the game," McVay said.
As for the main downfall: "unforced errors." McVay specifially pointed to that fact that, moving forward, "we have to be able to not beat ourselves before we figure out how to even come away with some of the results."
"When you look at it, football is a game of execution when you boil things down to it. Can you go out there and can you make the plays? Can you do the the right thing over and over and over again? That's what it boils down to in this league and we're just not doing that at a consistent enough basis right now." - Stafford
A word all of McVay, Stafford and Nacua used often was "execution." On the positive side of execution, Stafford and the offense went 86 yards down the field in just over two minutes on the final the drive of the game. The Rams reclaimed the lead with 47 second left, in what was the latest example of how Los Angeles has been "decent in some late-game and late-half situations. But I think there's areas to improve in all aspects of our team right now."
Another commonality between Stafford and Nacua was them taking personal accountability for the loss and recognizing the ways they both could have executed better. Stafford said he's "always looking in the mirror first for myself, trying to find ways to be better to help us out. I know everybody in that locker room is doing the same thing."
"We got to go back and look ourselves in the mirror. And I know our coaches are going to do a good job of being able to come back and critically assess everything that just happened this past game, and give us the information that we need to go on and move forward." - Nacua
On the final drive of the game, Nacua had two huge receptions for 59 of his 80 total receiving yards on the afternoon. Overall, from an individual perspective, Nacua also took accountability like his quarterback did. Nacua said he knows he needs to be "able to give (Stafford) the best, most decisive decision in our timing and rhythm," and when Stafford is able to find him, he needs to "be able to come down with them."
If Stafford and Nacua are any indication of how the Rams' locker room feels following the loss, they know there was a lack of execution — but they are also taking personal accountability and keeping an open mind when it comes to resolving the executional issues. "We're still a connected group. There's no pointing (fingers), and there's no arguing and not being connected. I think there's just a lack of execution, obviously on our offensive side of the ball," Nacua said.
