McVay Regrets 3rd-and-5 Overtime Run After Rams Fall to Bills

Q: With 81 kicking failures under Sean McVay, does a coach's apology actually fix years of glaring systemic issues?

No. Sean McVay’s apology may show accountability, but it does not address what now looks like an entrenched Rams problem. The evidence points to something bigger than one overtime play call. Under McVay, the Rams have 81 missed or blocked kicks since 2017, the third-most in the NFL. They have had three field goals blocked since the start of last season, tied for the league lead. In the loss to Buffalo, the failures were not isolated: a missed 50-yarder, a blocked 48-yarder in overtime, and a 70-yard kickoff return allowed. That is not a one-night mistake; it is a pattern. McVay was right to own the conservative third-and-5 call that set up the blocked kick. But the larger criticism is organizational. The Rams have repeatedly changed kickers and coordinators, yet the results remain poor. Reporting around the team has pointed to chronic underinvestment in special teams personnel and roster spots, which suggests the issue is structural as much as tactical. An apology has value inside a locker room because it can reinforce accountability and prevent blame-shifting. But on its own, it fixes nothing. What would matter is action: protection changes on field-goal units, real competition at kicker, improved kickoff coverage, and a broader roster commitment to special teams. Until those changes produce results, McVay’s postgame regret is best seen as honest but insufficient. The Rams do not have a messaging problem on special teams; they have an execution and team-building problem.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 13

Sean McVay said he was "sick" over calling a Kyren Williams run on third-and-5 from Buffalo's 30 in overtime, a sequence that ended with a blocked Rams field-goal attempt and a loss to the Bills.
Five straight passes had moved Los Angeles from its own 20 to the Bills' 30 after Buffalo's opening overtime drive stalled, making any Rams score a game-winner before McVay shifted to a conservative call.
McVay said he wished he had "gone for it" and taken the ball closer, putting the decision on himself rather than on players after another special-teams failure.
The admission fit a Week 5 pattern of NFL coaches publicly owning late-game mistakes, with Washington's Dan Quinn and Philadelphia's Nick Sirianni also blaming themselves for costly decisions.