The Los Angeles Rams almost came away with a win against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. The Rams were able to move the ball well against the 49ers before things got away from them in the second half.
Defensively, Los Angeles was able to limit explosive plays but Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel took over in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Sean McVay has historically struggled against Kyle Shanahan and while that can be dispiriting, he was actually encouraged by what he saw from his team.
“Hats off to the 49ers. I thought it was a high caliber game today. I was really pleased with a lot of different things. You could see the margin for error is really small against a great football team like that and there was a few play sequence into that third quarter where it just got away from us. It’s all things that I’m very encouraged that we can fix, that we can control. I like the spirit. I like the competitiveness. I like the resilience of this group and I have no doubt about it that we’re going to be able to respond the right way.
“Today was a great opportunity for us to be able to learn, to be able to understand where that margin for error is but I love the look in these guy’s eye. I like the way that they continue to be able to compete through the finish and these are always learning opportunities for us. Some of this adversity presents opportunities and I’m excited to be able to go forward with these guys in the right way and I have no doubt they’re going do that same thing. But you give credit to the 49ers and they did a good job today.”
Losing a winnable game against San Francisco can kook like a missed opportunity to coaches, but McVay instead looks at is another learning opportunity.
“You know, I think it’s hard to say that. I don’t want to say a missed opportunity, but I think there’s learning opportunities. That’s what it is. Ultimately, we didn’t come away with the result that we were hunting up, but there were a lot of good things that we can take away. There’s a lot of things, like I said, I’m excited to dive into this tape, really look at it because that margin for error is really small. You give them credit, they’re a really good football team. They’ve been given their flowers for a reason because of great coaches, great players and they came and I thought it was a high caliber football game that you guys witnessed today.”
So far, Los Angeles has exceeded expectations through two weeks though it will be interesting to see how they respond during their Monday Football tilt against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
Sean McVay explains how a young roster grows from a loss
With so many young players in key positions, McVay has to be more conscientious when trying to teach and educate his players. As far as how they can grow from a loss, McVay said it starts with looking at one’s self.
“I think you look inward. You continue to stay connected. I love the rapport of that group. I love the way that they play for one another. I love the energy and the edge that they play with. I think we want to just be able to continue to stack blocks and whether we came away with the result we wanted or we had this result today, it’s about how do we move forward? How do we continue to embody a lot of the growth mindset that we talk about? Let’s understand the work works. We’re going to continue to go back to work. We’re going to look inward at where we can improve, continue to tighten up our process and that’s exactly where we’re at.”
