WINLESS JETS STUN RAMS
As his team prepared to play the winless New York Jets, Rams coach Sean McVay said he was not concerned about a letdown, repeatedly citing his players’ “maturity.”
Jets 23, Rams 20
That was not evident for most of the game Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
The Rams came out flat, fell behind by 17 points early in the third quarter and could not come back in a 23-20 loss to a Jets team that won for the first time in 14games.
“This is not the result, not the type of game that we expected,” McVay said.
The Rams lost a chance to clinch a playoff spot and fell to 9-5. They also dropped into second place in the NFC West behind the Seattle Seahawks (10-4), who won 20-15 Sunday over the Washington Football Team.
“We let an opportunity slip by,” offensive lineman Rob Havenstein said.
The Rams play the Seahawks in Seattle next Sunday. They finish the season with another division game against the Cardinals (8-6).
It does not bode well if the Rams play as they did Sunday
he Jets were coming off a 40-3 loss to the Seahawks and had lost 13 games by an average of 16 points.
McVay and his players gave credit to the Jets and were quick to fall back on the “any given Sunday” nature of the NFL, but the magnitude of the defeat also registered.
“This loss will demoralize
us only as much we allow it to,” McVay said. “It’s going to be embarrassing, sick to your stomach about it.”
Quarterback Jared Goff echoed McVay.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with how the day went and embarrassed and sick to your stomach about it,” he said.
Did the Rams look past the Jets, a team that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in offense and defense?
“That question’s always going to be up in the air,” Havenstein said.
It sure looked that way in the first half, when the Rams
fell behind 13-0, a situation that could have been markedly worse had the defense not forced the Jets to kick field goals after a blocked punt and an interception.
“Offensively, just unbelievably poor to start the game,” McVay said, lamenting poor execution and penalties and adding. “Dug ourselves in too deep of a hole. ... I’ve got to do a better job of
having our team ready to go.”
The Rams nearly came back from a 20-3 deficit, but the offense failed to make enough plays.
“We didn’t execute. I didn’t execute,” said Goff, who completed 22 of 34 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.