Sean McVay and Rams unable to celebrate division title after tough loss to 49ers

The 12-5 Los Angeles Rams had their five game winning streak snapped by the 10-5 San Francisco 49ers in a gut-wrenching 27-24 overtime loss. Even In defeat, the Rams captured the NFC West championship, thanks to the Arizona Cardinals losing to the Seattle Seahawks. LA will host Arizona on Super Wild Card Weekend. After the loss, head coach Sean McVay and several players spoke to the media.

Jalen Ramsey on how the Rams will reset for the playoffs after such a tough loss

“We’ll see.”

Ramsey kept most of his answers very short, as he was clearly upset. He said he will feel better after he sees his daughter. I had to go see my daughter too, Mr. Ramsey.

Ramsey on the 49ers run game picking up steam after halftime.

“We got to watch the film but it seems like they were running it a little more in the second half, but we got to watch the film.”

The Rams defense stifled the 49ers in the first half but could not continue their dominance after the break. Deebo Samuel and Elijah Mitchell found traction in the run game late, with the 49ers racking up 135 yards on the ground.

Ramsey on his end zone interception

“God. It’s all God.”

Big stars are supposed to shine in big games. Jalen Ramsey got a clutch interception as the 49ers were driving to take the lead in the fourth quarter. In fairness, Troy Reeder’s hand did hit Garappolo’s helmet as he threw the ball. Yes, the refs missed the call. No, I don’t give a damn.

McVay on the Rams inability to finish after leading 17-3 at the half

“We weren’t able to run the ball at all. We didn’t get any efficiency running the ball and then we were having trouble protecting.”

The offensive line had a rough game today. LA’s run game was nonexistent, with the returning Cam Akers and Sony Michel averaging only 1.7 yards per carry, while Matthew Stafford was under constant duress, suffering five sacks on the day.

McVay on winning the NFC West

“This is a tough feeling. Our guys did a good job being able to navigate through the season, to be able to still win the division. It’s a good accomplishment, but I don’t know that right now is the time to celebrate that.”

The Rams went from potentially being the second seed in the NFC to the fourth seed with the Week 18 loss. McVay is now 45-1 when leading at the half.

Stafford on the overtime interception

“I just left it short.”

There have been a few too many short throws for a quarterback with such a big arm. There’s no more room for this going forward in the playoffs.

Stafford on if there was a discussion to pass on the late third-and-6

“Not to my knowledge. I think we’ve got a really good defense. We trust those guys. San Fran did a nice job of driving down and scoring. There’s no question.”

It’s easy to question the decision to run the ball, given how the game turned out. However, it was probably the right decision to give Michel the rock and get San Francisco to burn their final timeout, especially with how the Rams struggled on third down in the second half.

On second thought, throw the ball there. A conversion basically ends the game. Do you think the McVay made the right decision?

Cooper Kupp on winning the NFC West

“You don’t want to take for granted the difficulty of winning a division title. At the same time, a loss never feels good. Our focus is really on next week, just being able to respond from this thing.”

Kupp added the team will watch the film to clean up their mistakes and will be ready for the Cardinals.

The press conference was cut short, as alarms were blaring urging everyone to vacate SoFi Stadium. Hopefully, everyone is ok. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Rams on winning the division. On to the playoffs, where the Rams will host a familiar foe in the Arizona Cardinals.