The Los Angeles Rams came out flat in Week 1 as they suffered a lopsided 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. It marked the second-largest defeat by a defending Super Bowl champion to open the season in NFL history.
The Rams struggled to find consistency on both sides of the ball and turned it over three times. With the loss, L.A. dropped below .500 for the first time under Sean McVay’s tenure as head coach.
McVay discussed the Rams’ shortcomings and took full responsibly for the loss, via ESPN’s Sarah Barshop:
“When you look at a lot of the ways that this game unfolded, [I] feel a huge sense of responsibility to this team,” McVay said. “We weren’t ready to go. I take a lot of pride in that, and that’s on me. I’ve got to do better. There were a lot of decisions that I made that I felt like didn’t put our players in good enough spots.
“So it was a humbling experience, but we’re going to stay connected. We’re going to all look inward. We’re going to do a better job moving forward.”
Prior to Thursday night, the Rams were 5-0 under McVay in season openers, but there is certainly no shame in losing to the Bills, who entered the year as the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl.
One loss isn’t the end of the world and the Rams will have an opportunity to bounce back next Sunday when they host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.
A lot will need to be cleaned up on both sides of the ball though, so look for McVay and the Rams to have a good week of practice to get ready for Atlanta.