Sean McVay Explains Controversial Decision Against Bengals

The Los Angeles Rams had a chance — albeit small — to tie or beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Monday night’s clash.

The Bengals’ defense forced a 4th-and-5, and with the Rams trailing by ten and just six minutes left in the game, HC Sean McVay decided to punt.

Unsurprisingly, he was asked about that during his midweek press availability, and his answer wasn’t exactly the most compelling. McVay simply claimed that the flow of the game didn’t feel right, so he trusted his defense to get the job done (via ProFootballTalk).

“Thought about it, just didn’t feel like the right thing. There were some struggles that we had on third down and so had confidence in our defense at that point and so that was kind of the thought process there,” he said.

The game was pretty much out of reach at that point if they didn’t convert, so why not take the risk?

Rams coach Sean McVay addresses key decision to punt on fourth and five with 6:09 to play and down 10 points. https://t.co/ENkAivVvGI

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 28, 2023

Otherwise, they would’ve needed to get a three-and-out, score, and then recover an onside kick, which is obviously something no team can objectively bank on. At the end of the day, the decision cost the Rams a legit chance of at least tying the game and sending it to overtime.

He didn’t trust his offense to get five yards, yet he trusted it to get two scores, all while recovering an onside kick.

That makes literally no sense, especially when you have a proven quarterback under center, and Matthew Stafford didn’t seem happy with the decision to punt.

The Rams are now 1-2 after dropping consecutive games, failing to build momentum from that shocking win in the season opener vs. the Seattle Seahawks. Their next chance to get back in the win column will come on Sunday when they hit the road to face the Indianapolis Colts.