On Sunday evening, the Los Angeles Rams' 2025-26 season came to an end with a tough road loss at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game. This game was a back and forth affair throughout, but ultimately, the Rams' inability to get stops when they needed them, including on the Seahawks' final drive when they ran down most of the clock, spelled their downfall.
At one point late in the fourth quarter, the Rams had an opportunity to cut the game to a one-point deficit with a field goal, but head coach Sean McVay ended up deciding to go for it, which was unsuccessful.
After the game, instead of owning up to the mistake, McVay decided to blame it on freak luck.
“They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyren right there,” McVay said, per Mike Florio of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk. “I know that that can’t be part of their design, so . . . fortuitous bust by them.”
“I can’t imagine that’s what they were really trying to do,” McVay added.
Whatever the Seahawks were trying to do, they ended up getting the stop they needed to end the Rams' season, one that started out with immense promise but fizzled out down the stretch of the regular year.
Still, Los Angeles was able to win two playoff games on the road, and very nearly a third on Sunday, but ended up coming just short of reaching their third Super Bowl appearance in the McVay era.
Now, the Rams will try to retool this offseason, particularly on defense, where they can clearly use some work in the secondary, a unit that was eviscerated by Sam Darnold all evening on Sunday.
The Rams will also hope that quarterback Matthew Stafford elects to return to the team on the heels of a likely MVP win for his efforts this year.
