It’s far easier to run the ball in cold and windy conditions like the ones the Los Angeles Rams played in on Sunday, but the weather didn’t stop Sean McVay from airing it out. He called a very pass-heavy game against the Chicago Bears, having Matthew Stafford drop back 46 times, attempting a total of 42 passes – only 20 of which he completed.
At one point in the game, in which the Rams never trailed by more than three points, Los Angeles had 34 dropbacks and only 11 rush attempts. On Monday, McVay explained why the Rams were so pass-heavy against the Bears and attributed some of it to mistakes that were made by the offense.
“There were some instances where we did have runs called and we ended up getting to some other stuff, some of which we wanted, some that we didn’t,” he said. “Those are areas that I think at the end of the day, I have to be better. I have to be able to have some clarity. I think to your point, there were some instances where we weren’t able to do that at a high clip. I thought we did have success early on on that first drive. Then you start talking about the second series when we had three plays where we went three and out. We made a mistake that occurred on the third-and-four. Then on the third series we ended up having another mistake on the first-and-10 after we gained a first down after we ended up hitting ‘Ferg’ on the on the third-and-11. Then on the fourth series, again we had a mistake protection wise.”
In self-reflecting on the game, McVay did admit it probably took him too long to pivot away from the pass and more toward the run. After that 34-11 split, Stafford had just 12 more dropbacks and the Rams wound up finishing with 30 total rush attempts, excluding the fourth-quarter knee.
McVay will always try to be better as a play caller after digesting the film, but he also wants to see better execution from his players.
“I think at the end of the day, we have to consistently execute,” he said. “We have to provide clarity. I’m not necessarily worried as much about the run-pass balance as much as our snap in and snap out execution. That wasn’t good enough. Then what I’ll also make sure that there’s ownership on so it’s not misunderstood is if we aren’t having successful outcomes, let’s pivot a little bit quicker when the situation and the circumstances dictate if that gives us a chance to have more success. I thought that did illustrate itself later in the game, but it took a little bit too long. That’s where I was critical of myself and I won’t run away from that.”
Heading into Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, the Rams will face a real test offensively. Seattle ranks second in yards per pass attempt and first in yards per rush allowed, so the Seahawks are outstanding in both phases.
Skewing heavily in one direction or the other isn’t the way to go, but if the run isn’t working in Seattle, we could see another pass-first attack from McVay and Stafford.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Sean McVay comments on being so pass-heavy vs. Bears
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
