Rams’ Sean McVay at a loss for words over pathetically flat start vs. Falcons

Monday night was supposed to be a clean, late-season statement for Matthew Stafford, the kind of national TV performance that locks in an MVP conversation. Instead, the Rams’ 27-24 loss to the Falcons flipped the script, with the biggest problem being how quickly Los Angeles dug a hole and how thin the margin became when they finally tried to climb out.

After the loss, Adam Grosbard asked the Rams head coach why the team came out flat that night, as he responded that he also wished to have an answer and that they needed to figure it out.

The ending didn’t feel like a full-team collapse so much as a season-defining snapshot in slow motion. Stafford’s throw stayed in the air forever, Puka Nacua arrived right on time, and the ball hit his hands as his toes dragged along the sideline.

Nacua believed it was the catch that would give the Rams a chance to tie it and push a second straight overtime. The review turned it into a brutal two-word verdict: inches short, as he told The New York Times.

“It takes every inch,” Nacua said. “It requires every ounce of effort you have.”

Even Atlanta felt the moment wobble. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said his first reaction on replay was that Nacua had secured it, then the mood changed when the wrist pull by A.J. Terrell became clear, and Atlanta treated it as the turning point that closed the door.

What made the loss stick was that the Rams needed such a miraculous finish at all. McVay didn’t hide his disgust with how the night began.

“We didn’t do any of the things that we tried to do to start that game,” McVay said. “Here we are again in a disappointing situation. This is a humbling league, and we got humbled tonight.”

That context matters for what comes next. McVay has already indicated the Rams plan to play their starters in the regular-season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, because the team needs reps to clean up habits and avoid carrying this kind of start into the postseason.

With one game left before the playoffs, the Rams don’t have the luxury of treating the Falcons’ loss like bad luck or a one-off.

The focus now is correcting the opening script that forced them into desperation football late.

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