Matthew Stafford reveals the Rams biggest problem and its not the kicker

The easiest thing in football is finding a scapegoat.For the Rams, that scapegoat was field-goal kicker Harrison Mevis.The team watched a victory sail away on a missed field goal on its opening drive and then the potential game-winner get blocked in Monday night’s 37-34 overtime loss to the Bills.The natural reaction was to blame Mevis.To blame the entire special-teams unit.

Even Rams coach Sean McVay said he was sick to his stomach afterward watching another game slip through their fingers.“It cost us the game tonight,” McVay said of the kicking unit immediately after the loss.But after some reflection and sitting with the loss for a day, McVay changed his tune a bit.“He wasn’t exclusively the reason why we lost the game,” McVay said of Mevis after he was released on Tuesday morning.“This is the greatest team sport.

The kicking unit cost us an opportunity to win the game.But that wasn’t the reason we didn’t win exclusively.”Veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL MVP, knows that as well.

Making Mevis the scapegoat is the easy way out, but the harder thing to do is to look in the mirror and find ways you could have been better.Stafford delivered a revealing assessment on Thursday that should serve as a wake-up call for an offense talented enough to score on anybody, yet maddeningly inconsistent when it comes to opportunities in the game to put their opponents away.The problem isn’t necessarily how the Rams finish games or what the offense does when its backs are against the wall and it needs a score.They’ve been excellent when urgency is required, especially in two-minute situations.

It’s more about the opportunities they miss before they reach the finish line.“There’s chances all over the place in games to snatch the momentum, or go pile on a lead, or claw back a little closer, so it’s not just about one possession at the end of the game, or whatever that is,” Stafford said.Over their last three games, the Rams h...