After just about every loss by the Los Angeles Rams, Sean McVay takes accountability. He often says, "It starts with me," and "I've got to do a better job." He says what good leaders should say after a letdown, falling on the sword even when he shouldn't have to.
But after Sunday's 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinalsas 12.5-point favorites, he deserves all the criticism sent his way. It was one of his worst-coached games since being hired by the Rams in 2017.
That's not an exaggeration.
From preparation to in-game adjustments to playcalling, McVay failed his team from start to finish. And though he's had some questionable playcalling throughout his tenure in L.A., as every coach does, Sunday may have been rock bottom.
There's no better example of McVay outsmarting himself than the fourth-and-1 handoff to Davis Allen, who was lined up as a fullback on the play. The Rams have Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and Matthew Stafford, and yet McVay put the ball in the hands of his fourth-string tight end on the first carry of his career. Allen almost had a chance to move the chains but he didn't reach the ball out – which is understandable considering he's a tight end, and tight ends typically don't run the ball.
Cardinals defense comes up with the stop on 4th and 1!
— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026
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That was with 2:44 left in the third quarter when the Rams were only trailing 12-9. The game was still very much within reach and though no one will blame McVay for going for it considering the Rams didn't have a kicker, the call was not good.
It was a common theme throughout the day. The Rams didn't have any answers for what the Cardinals threw at them. Arizona came into the game with the fifth-lowest blitz rate in the NFL at just 19.9%. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis typically only rushes four and drops seven, but against the Rams, he threw a lot of added rushers at Matthew Stafford.
McVay was asked why the Rams didn't have a counter to Arizona's blitzes, and he pointed to execution, not playcalling.
“Well, there was other instances that we could’ve made them pay," he said. "We just didn’t execute. Simple as that. Had an idea of what some of those things were going, what they were doing. We have to be able to execute in some of those instances and that wasn’t the case today.”
As bad as some of McVay's earlier calls were, a pivotal sequence came late in the fourth quarter when the Rams were driving and faced a third-and-5 in Cardinals territory. He called a screen to Puka Nacua, which only gained 2 yards. Fine.
After a false start by Warren McClendon Jr. to make it fourth-and-8, McVay dug deep and, wait for it, called another screen. This one was even worse, as Stafford tossed it to Kyren Williams behind the line of scrimmage. The pass fell incomplete because Williams had a defender draped all over him, and even if he did make the catch, he would've lost yardage on the play.
Pass is incomplete and the Cardinals force a turnover on downs 👀
— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026
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Screens can be blitz-beaters, but spamming screen passes isn't the way to go – not with the reigning MVP under center.
According to PFF, Stafford's average depth of target was only 5.3 yards downfield, his lowest of the season. It was his lowest since Week 11 against the Seahawks last season, and only the third time his ADOT has been below 6.0 since 2024.
The Rams didn't push the ball downfield until their last couple of drives, but by then, it was too late. There were no max-protection deep shots. Not enough chips from the tight ends to help out David Quessenberry. It was screen after screen after screen.
Heck, Puka Nacua had two catches for 16 yards until the fourth quarter, when he finally came alive with a pair of big catches that eventually put him at 80 yards for the game.
Even before halftime, McVay waved the white flag with 46 seconds left and no timeouts. The Rams didn't have a kicker, but surely, Stafford could've gotten them in reasonable range for Ethan Evans in that time. He said after the game that not having a healthy kicker played into the two handoffs to Kyren Williams, but that doesn't make it the right decision.
McVay is an outstanding coach, but he outsmarted himself on Sunday against his former offensive coordinator, Mike LaFleur. He deserves a lot of blame for this loss, as he does for most of the Rams' losses this season. Players aren't executing, but the head coach isn't doing much to help them out.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Sean McVay's playcalling was big reason Rams lost to Cardinals