The shine is fading on Rams’ boy wonder Sean McVay

To be certain, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has enjoyed unprecedented success in the NFL at his age (40). But there were definitely chinks in the armor this year. Is this a sign that the luster is wearing off the boy wonder?

McVay took over as the Rams’ head coach at the age of 31 after a three-year stint as Washington’s offensive coordinator. He immediately went 24-8 over his first two seasons and led the Rams into the 2018 Super Bowl. And despite taking a tie into the fourth quarter, the Rams lost 13-3 to the Patriots.

Since then, McVay has a record of 68-49. They also won the Super Bowl in 2021 after trading for Matthew Stafford. However, the 2025 postseason wasn’t kind to McVay, despite the Rams reaching the NFC Championship Game.

Rams HC Sean McVay wasn’t at his best in playoffs

It started back in the regular season when the Rams blew a fourth-quarter lead against the Seahawks. Then they surprisingly lost to the Falcons in Week 17. Those losses kept them from a first-round bye and made them go on the road.

In the Wild Card Round, McVay and the Rams managed a shaky win over the Panthers. Heavily favored, the Rams needed a touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining to secure a 34-31 victory.

McVay can probably get a pass for that game. The Rams didn’t have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs, but still came away with a road victory. That’s rarely an easy task.

However, in the Divisional Round, the Rams played a fairly sound game until the late stages against the Bears. The defense melted down on a fourth-down pass from Caleb Williams that forced overtime.

And in the extra period, McVay seemed to doom his team with a decision to call three straight running plays. That forced a punt and gave the Bears a chance to win with a field goal.

McVay took the blame for some poor decisions in that game, according to ESPN.

“Offensively, man, I did not do a very good job for our group tonight,” McVay said after Harrison Mevis kicked a 42-yard field goal to win the divisional round game. “But I thought our guys were able to overcome it.

“I did not like the feel for the flow of the game that I had outside of the first series, where our guys did a great job. Defensively, it kept us in it in spite of how poor of a job I did for our group. But like I said, I’m really grateful for this group being able to find a way, stick with it and be able to overcome some bad coaching by me tonight.”

The problems continued against the Seahawks

Not taking away from Sam Darnold and the Seahawks, the Rams should have been in a better position to win that game.

Four things stood out. One, McVay had all season to get things fixed on special teams. Great head coaches rarely let one aspect of the game beat them. But McVay never found an answer for the special team woes that dogged them all season.

And Xavier Smith’s muff of a simple catch turned out to hand the Seahawks seven points in an eventual four-point game.

In a good note, Stafford had Smith’s back, according to NBC Sports.

“I told him I loved him,” Stafford said. “And I do. The guy wants to go out there and make every play he possibly can, and sometimes it doesn’t happen. I’ve been in those situations. It doesn’t change how I feel about the human being, the person, the player. I love the guy, I trust him, and wish nothing but the best for him.”

But Smith shouldn’t have been back there. He already muffed one easy catch. In the playoffs, when you’re already shaky on special teams, you can’t leave Smith out there for another chance to mess up. McVay did. And the Rams paid dearly.

Finally, McVay pulled Smith. Kyren Williams handled the rest of the punt return duties.

Secondly, McVay didn’t use a challenge that could very well have gone his way. Instead of challenging whether Cooper Kupp dropped the pass on a key third-down play, which would have forced a punt, McVay called a straight timeout. Bad move.

Third, just as many coaches have done this season, McVay passed up three points. Those would have been valuable at the end. The Rams could have kicked a field goal to take the lead with just over three minutes left. Instead, trailing 31-27, they were forced to go for it.

Fourth, the play design looked awful on both third and fourth down when the Rams were near the goal line on their final possession. It almost seemed like the Rams weren’t focused on getting the ball to Davante Adams or Puka Nacua on either play. But why?

It wound up being an ugly game for McVay.

Now, for those who are happy with coming close, the 2025 season won’t seem so bad. But this was clearly a Rams team that should have added another Super Bowl victory.

And that’s why the luster is fading for McVay.

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