The Rams Have a Sean McVay Problem, But Giving Up Play-Calling Isn't the Answer

As the Los Angeles Rams have started to lose, the calls for head coach Sean McVay to give up playcalling have begun like clockwork. The Rams are at 2-4 and just scored 16 points against one of the worst defenses in the NFL. McVay came under the microscope for his fourth-down play call to Davis Allen, and the demands for McVay to give up play calling duties have only grown louder.

This isn’t to say that McVay is perfect, but as much as some might not like to admit, he’s still one of the NFL’s best playcallers. At times, it’s easy to get caught in an echo chamber during the NFL season. It’s important to take a step back and look at the NFL through a wider lens.

Sean McVay Remains One of the NFL's Best Playcallers

While the offense needs to be better, not all of that is on McVay and the playcalling. This offseason, The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen ranked McVay as the second-best playcaller in the NFL behind only Kyle Shanahan. 

“McVay is more systematic in his approach than playcallers who tailor their game plans more week to week,” wrote Nguyen. “He isn’t reinventing the wheel with flashy play designs. McVay runs his core concepts, but his system has answers for whatever defenses throw at him. His genius lies in his ability to force defenses into the calls that he wants them to be in.”

FantasyPoints came up with six “hacks” that make a good playcaller this offseason. Taking in data from 2021 to 2025, McVay ranked first among all playcallers based on his tendencies with early-down passing, utilizing play action on early downs, getting the quarterback under center, creating a box advantage, downfield passing, and fourth down aggressiveness. 

Back in March, McVay was quoted saying that he wasn’t necessarily married to calling plays. However, it seems odd to take playcalling duties away from someone who is among the best in the world at it. In today’s NFL, the best head coaches call their own plays. 

Mike Macdonald, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, Andy Reid, and Matt LaFleur all call their own plays. The days of the CEO head coach are limited. There are only a few of them in existence in the modern NFL in Mike Vrabel, John Harbaugh, and Dan Campbell. 

Heading into the 2025 season, Sean Payton was still considered a top-10 playcaller. In 2025, the Broncos still ranked 10th in offensive EPA per play. Payton had the Broncos’ offense rolling with Bo Nix at quarterback. 

This offseason, Payton made the decision to give up playcalling duties to first-year offensive coordinator Davis Webb. Through four weeks, the Broncos ranked 20th in EPA per play on offense. After the Broncos lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4, Payton took back playcalling. Webb was the primary playcaller for the Broncos for a whole four weeks. 

"We know we have to improve our balance in running the football," said Payton when he made the change. "It's changing things up and really trying to reduce some of the calories to get back to getting some things really well. That's going to be the focus."

Play-Calling Is Part of What Makes McVay Great

The biggest issue with taking away playcalling duties from McVay is that it would remove his main connection to his players. It would take away what makes McVay great as a head coach and part of what he does best. 

McVay has given up playcalling one time, and it was during the disastrous 2022 season when he was at his lowest of lows. McVay gave playcalling duties to Liam Coen against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue described the situation at the time. 

“Careful observers can see the ebbs and flows of his brain call by call — and they can also see when creativity and collaboration morph into frustration and angst. When he calls a game, he feels connected to his players and they to him,” wrote Rodrigue. “As McVay stood on the sidelines in Kansas City, his shoulders knotted and his jaw set, he could hear the game unfolding in his headset and see it on the field. But not calling the game made him feel more distant than ever from his players — and from himself.”

Just because McVay is calling the plays doesn't mean there isn't a collaborative effort. Throughout the game, McVay is taking input and getting information from his coaching staff such as Nate Scheelhaase. 

McVay's Play-Calling Hasn't Been Without Fault

Again, this isn’t to say that McVay has been perfect. Sunday was a primary example of that. Facing a 4th-and-1, McVay called a dive play to tight end Davis Allen. Allen had never taken a hand-off in his four years with the Rams or his four-year career at Clemson. When the options include Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua, going to Allen seems odd. 

In Week 6, the Rams had a 50 percent rushing success rate. While 20 percent of their runs had been stuffed, only one of those came in 13 personnel. This season, Kyren Williams has an 81.8 percent success rate on third or fourth down with less than three yards to go. He is 9-for-11 in those situations. Among players with at least five such attempts, that ranks third. 

There’s also been a lack of balance in the offense. The Rams have the fifth-highest pass-rate over expected at +4.9. Pass rate over expected measures how much a team passes compared to the expected rate in every situation. It’s a good way to tell how balanced a team is, rather than just looking at the basic run-pass rates. Over the last four games, they have the highest at +7.7.

A positive pass rate over expected isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, the Rams are still passing at an extremely high rate. For comparison, the San Francisco 49ers are at +2.5 and the Kansas City Chiefs are at +3.6. Both are still inside the top 10. 

As expected, the Rams have generally always had a high pass rate over expected. Last season, their +5.8 pass rate over expected ranked third. The Rams were extremely low in 2024 at -1.2 and were down at -1.6 in 2023. When the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021, their pass rate over expected ranked sixth at +4.0. 

The issue isn’t necessarily with the Rams’ +4.9 on the season. However, their +7.7 pass rate over expected over the last four games is extremely high. In three of the last four games, Matthew Stafford has 50 or more passing attempts. In two of those games, the Rams never trailed by double digits to warrant passing that much. 

Buffalo did present a mismatch in the passing game due to the injuries at cornerback, but the Rams still had a +9.9 pass rate over expected. Throwing 55 times against the Broncos was more egregious as the Rams led by 16 points in that game. Against the Broncos, the Rams had a +9.3 pass rate over expected. 

So far this season, the Rams have a neutral pass frequency of 62.6 percent, which is the second-highest rate in the NFL. Their 62.6 percent pass rate in neutral situations is 10 percent higher than the league average at 52.5 percent. It’s also the highest it's been since 2021 through six weeks. 

At the end of the day, the buck stops with McVay. It is up to him to get the offense on track. However, how much is the playcaller at fault when the offense still ranks 10th in EPA per play and sixth in success rate? The offense ranks sixth in DVOA. Those numbers would suggest that the overall infrastructure and health of the offense is in good shape.

The Rams' Offensive Problems Go Beyond McVay

Players also hold some responsibility and need to be able to execute. That’s also where the Rams are lacking consistency. 

“The consistency of execution from phase-to-phase is really what we're hunting up,” said McVay on Monday. “Sometimes it just comes down to not executing on a play here or there, but there are a lot of things that lead up to those moments. We're hunting up consistency on a snap-to-snap basis, on a play-to-play basis.”

Player execution in critical moments has been a major issue. Through six weeks, the Rams have the seventh-highest drop rate. Back in 2024, the Rams had a drop rate of 2.7 percent, which was the fourth best. 

A big moment in Sunday’s game against the Cardinals came with the offense facing a 4th-and-3. Warren McClendon got called for a false start, pushing the offense back to a 4th-and-8. The Rams have 16 pre-snap penalties this season, putting them on track for 48. Last season, they had 31 pre-snap penalties all year. 

There’s also the issue at quarterback. Many would have expected some sort of regression from Matthew Stafford after last year. Very few would have expected this level of regression. For the most part, the offensive line has protected Stafford. The Rams rank first in pressure rate allowed, second in quick pressures allowed, and second in unblocked pressure rate.

However, when Stafford has been kept clean this season, he’s averaging 0.31 EPA per pass, which ranks 13th. Last year, it was 0.42 and in 2024 it was 0.39. When Stafford has been pressured, his efficiency drops significantly. His EPA per pass under pressure is -0.54, which ranks 26th. Last season, it was -0.25 and in 2024 it was -0.5. 

The Rams' Passing Game Is Missing an Explosive Element

Stafford may lead the NFL in passing yards, but it’s very reminiscent of when Jared Goff accomplished the same feat in the Rams’ offense in 2019. Stafford hasn’t been sharp and has missed or not seen open throws. In Week 3 against the Broncos, Stafford didn’t see Terrance Ferguson breaking open along the sideline. His off-target throw-rate this season of 15.7 percent is the ninth-highest in the NFL. 

The Rams’ offense is very reminiscent of the 2019 version after Brandin Cooks got injured. At times, the passing game feels constricted and without a speed option, it lacks explosiveness. Defenses are daring them to win over the top, and they can’t do it. The Rams have faced heavy boxes at the second-highest rate in the NFL, but rank 19th in deep passes. 

Last week, Stafford had a season-low 4.8 air yards per pass attempt.It was the second consecutive week that Stafford recorded a season low in that metric. His 4.8 air yards per attempt was also the seventh-lowest for his career. His 1.2 completed air yards per pass attempt was the lowest of his career. Only 24.8 percent of his throws went beyond the line to gain, the lowest he’s had in a game since 2018. 

While personnel can dictate how many players are in the box, the Rams also aren’t able to take advantage of those matchups. For comparison, the Bills lead the NFL in seeing heavy boxes, but rank fourth in deep pass rate. 

Against heavy boxes, Stafford has a deep-pass rate of 6.8 percent, which ranks 21st. Additionally, on deep passes this season, Stafford is just 7-for-26 for a completion rate of 26.9 percent. That ranks 27th in the NFL. 

There’s also another team on the other side of the field that has a say. That was certainly the case on Sunday against the Cardinals. Nick Rallis had the Cardinals defense playing well and seemed to be dialed in to what the Rams wanted to do offensively. 

When it comes to some of the issues in the offense, multiple things can be true at once. Yes, McVay does need to be better and find balance. The Rams need to get back to running the ball consistently. They are passing at a 63.9 percent rate, which simply is not sustainable. 

At the same time, there is also an issue in execution. If Stafford hits Nacua in the third quarter, we may not be having this conversation of whether or not McVay should give up playcalling. 

The Rams aren’t executing in big moments at any level. That starts with McVay, but the players also need to do their part. McVay and Stafford may be two of the problems, but they are also a big part of the solution. 

Taking play calling duties away from McVay would be an overreaction to a disappointing start. Yes, the Rams have hit rock bottom. There are legitimate issues offensively, but those problems extend beyond just the playcaller. Stafford needs to play better, and the offense as a whole needs to execute more consistently. McVay has proven that he's one of the best offensive minds in football. The Rams need McVay to be part of the solution, not take him out of the equation.