Sean McVay calls for players rally around Matthew Stafford: “He needs some help”

The Los Angeles Rams dropped their second game in a row, losing to the Dallas Cowboys by a final score of 22-10. It’s been hard to watch. There isn’t much, if anything from this team that resembles the 2021 team that went on to win Super Bowl 56. After the game, head coach Sean McVay tried to come up with answers on how to fix the Rams’ stagnant offense.

Are there Rams players mailing it in?

“It’s not good enough right now. I’ll never pretend that it is. But there are guys that are continuing to compete to the best of their ability. We’ve got to get everybody doing that. Everybody stand to compete to the best of their ability and really be at their best, regardless of the circumstances...We need more guys consistently to do some of the things that some of those individuals that you guys know who I’m talking about are doing.”

For the second week in a row, McVay seems like he’s indirectly calling out some players for either lack of effort or missed assignments. There is plenty of blame to go around, starting with McVay. He has consistently been able to mold and tweak his offense around his players, even covering up some potential weaknesses. But, with all of the injuries mounting, it’s fair to wonder if McVay and the Rams have met their match in terms of adversity after falling to 2-3 to start the 2022 campaign.

How can L.A. turn things around on offense?

“We’ve got to be able to run the football efficiently, and then when we do not run the football efficiently, we’re having trouble protecting and being able to hold up, and then you can’t give yourself a chance to let things to develop. I love Matthew Stafford. He is competing and doing everything in his power for this team. He needs some help, and we’ve got to be able to help him.”

It was another rough outing for the Rams and especially so for the offense. The injury-riddle offensive line allowed five sacks (and even more hits) on Matthew Stafford. If that wasn’t enough to spell disaster for L.A., the three turnovers sure would take care of it. The Dallas defense held the Rams to 38 rushing yards on 15 carries, good for only 2.5 yards per carry. It’s starting to have the makings of a bad season for Los Angeles. They can’t put up points, scoring 10 points or less in three out of the five games this year.

The defense is keeping the Rams in games

“The one that (Tony) Pollard hit was a big explosive run, but other than that I thought for the most part, we played well enough defensively to be able to win that game.”

Outside of Pollard’s 57-yard touchdown run, the defense did everything they could to keep things close. They sacked Cooper Rush three times. He’d only been sacked twice entering Week 5. They held Dallas to 239 total yards. The defense even held the Cowboys to 33 percent on third down. Sure, a turnover would have been nice, but it just wasn’t meant to be today. Also, keep in mind technically the defense gave up just one touchdown and three field goals.

Is a change in philosophy on the horizon?

“We have to be able to play better. We have to figure out what do our guys do best, and if that means shifting the identity of some of the things that maybe we’ve done here, that’s our job as coaches.”

That term “shifting the identity” is very interesting. That sounds like it’s time for the offensive coaching staff to reimagine this L.A. offense, and do a deep dive to see what changes can be made. It’s completely opposite of comments the team made during last year’s winless November. At that point, the team was all about staying the course. This year, it sounds like there may be some changes coming. A 2-3 record will do that for a team that came into the year with aspirations of competing for another Super Bowl.