Sean McVay isn’t taking his foot off the gas. The Rams coach confirmed his starters will play in the regular season finale against Arizona on Sunday, even though the team can’t win the NFC West.
“Oh, we’re playing,” McVay said after Monday night’s disappointing 27-24 loss to the Falcons. “Yeah, they’re playing.”
This marks a strategic shift for McVay, who sat Matthew Stafford and other key players in Week 18 the past two seasons – even with playoff positioning still at stake.
When reporters asked if the decision stemmed from the team’s current two-game skid, McVay shut down that speculation.
“No, they were going to play anyways,” he explained. “We need to play. We need to play better football. So I don’t know what the consequences are in those different types of things, but we got to play better.”
The Rams (11-5) still have something to fight for.
They’ll secure the No. 5 seed in the NFC with a win over the Cardinals combined with a Seahawks victory over the 49ers. Should Los Angeles lose – or if San Francisco beats Seattle – they’ll drop to the sixth seed.
The 49ers-Seahawks matchup kicks off Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC, potentially clarifying the Rams’ situation before they take the field Sunday.
Los Angeles has hit its first real rough patch since early October.
After falling to Seattle in Week 16 and now Atlanta, the Rams have dropped consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 4-5 this season. Stafford’s performance Monday night was particularly troubling.
The veteran quarterback threw three interceptions while completing just 22 of 38 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
“Obviously I didn’t play well enough,” Stafford admitted post-game.
He dismissed the idea that Atlanta’s defense did anything special to disrupt him. “Nothing [the Falcons] did, to be honest with you. Same kind of stuff they’ve been doing all year. We didn’t execute well enough. I obviously didn’t play well enough and that’s what it is.”
The MVP race has shifted dramatically following Stafford’s rough outing.
After entering Monday as the betting favorite (-225 odds according to DraftKings Sportsbook), Stafford has now fallen behind Patriots rookie sensation Drake Maye. The New England quarterback leapfrogged to a commanding -400 favorite, with Stafford dropping to +300.
Despite the setback, Stafford’s ready to get back on the field.
“Yeah, I love playing the game. So, yeah. I’ll be ready to go,” he said when asked about Week 18.