Rams’ McVay: I was ‘outcoached’ in Super Bowl
ATLANTA – The 33-year-old Rams’ coach entered his Super Bowl postgame locker room with a message: This is my fault.
A series of “no” responses greeted Sean McVay, punter Johnny Hekker said.
“‘No’s — no, coach,’ ” Hekker said after the 13-3 loss to the Patriots. “Just one of those deals where he’s trying to take accountability and we have a team full of guys who are accountable as well. And when we look ourselves in a mirror, we’re going to know we all left plays out there as well that could’ve contributed to the result.”
The second-year coach said the loss
on the biggest stage — when his touted offense was held to three points and his defense’s latest heightened playoff performance was for naught — “just stings in your gut.”
“I’m still kind of numb right now,” McVay said as he and subdued players cycled through makeshift podiums in the bowels of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “I got outcoached. I didn’t do nearly good enough for our football team.”
In interviews, as in the postgame locker room, McVay’s players dismissed the notion that their head coach should shoulder the blame for an insufficient day of offense. Sure, the Rams’ defense strung together a dominant first half that included an interception of Tom Brady on his first pass and strip sack before the
half (New England recovered).
The Patriots left for halftime with just three points to show.
“At the end of the day, as as a whole, we played great,” outside linebacker Dante Fowler said. “You don’t see many 13-3 games in the Super Bowl. So that shows you how prepared we were.”
But no moral victories, said Rams lineman Ndamukong Suh. The Rams’ defense that limited New England to just 44 rushing yards in the first half surrendered 111 in the second. Patriots rookie back Sony Michel punched in a 2-yard score after Brady’s key 29-yard pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski on the lone touchdown drive.
A team effort, they emphasized, not a McVay coaching and game-plan one.