The Los Angeles Rams put together an outstanding performance on offense and defense in their win over the Las Vegas Raiders, but their special teams continued to suffer issues as their kick coverage team habitually gave up big returns, something that has been occurring all season. Plus, the Raiders ran a successful fake punt on fourth-and-5 to pick up 13 yards and a first down.
For weeks now, head coach Sean McVay has been under pressure to explain why these issues persist. With each week comes a similar answer about things not being good enough and that McVay takes full responsibility for the issues. On Monday, McVay was posed the question again. He was asked if the lapses witnessed on Sunday were the same as we've seen before, or if it was indicative of a new issue. McVay stated it's the same old, same old.
“It was the same," said McVay. "It was not good enough. We've talked about this a lot and it has to get fixed. It's not good enough and we cannot allow ourselves to do that. That was a great return unit that we were going against, [Raiders Special Teams Coordinator] Joe ‘D’ [DeCamillis] and those guys did a really good job, but we have to be much better. You can't give up the first two times that you cover that field position.”
DeCamillis was the Rams' special teams coordinator from 2021-2022, winning Super Bowl LVI. The team hasn't had a consistent special teams unit since his departure.
McVay was then asked what can be done to fix coverage issues, but he was without a solution.
“I have to figure that out," stated McVay. "It's one of those deals that’s driving me crazy. We have to figure it out, and we haven't yet.”
New Rams kicker Brandon McManus did go 5-for-5 on point-after attempts and the team recovered an onside kick to ice the game, so there is some upside for McVay to hold on to.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: 'Driving me crazy': Sean McVay frustrated by Rams' poor kick coverage