Sean McVay is the reason the Rams are falling apart and the only man who can fix them

Sean McVay has spent the better part of a decade building a reputation as one of football’s brightest minds.Six weeks into the 2026 NFL Season, and the Los Angeles Rams’ head coach is getting outsmarted by the one person who should know his offense better than anyone. Himself. The Rams are currently 2-4, dead last in the NFC West, and watching their Super Bowl dreams unravel one self-inflicted wound at a time. And while McVay deserves enormous credit for transforming this franchise into a perennial contender, he deserves an equally large share of the blame for its current predicament. Let’s start with special teams, an annual problem McVay has allowed to fester like an untreated infection. For years, the Rams have tried to get by with bargain-bin kickers, questionable personnel decisions and a reluctance to expose starters on special teams.

The revolving door at kicker has become almost comical, except nobody in Los Angeles is laughing anymore.Harrison Mevis missed four field goals before being released, including a blocked 48-yard attempt in overtime against Buffalo that helped seal another heartbreaking defeat.But why was Mevis attempting a 48-yarder in the first place?With Matthew Stafford carving up Buffalo’s defense, McVay inexplicably called a run on third-and-5 that gained nothing, settling for a long field goal instead of trusting his reigning MVP to move the chains.Afterward, McVay admitted he regretted the decision.“I wish I would have had a better play call and gone forward, got it a lot tighter.I’m sick right now with myself,” he said.He should be.Then there’s the lack of discipline on display by his team week in and week out. The Rams entered this season accustomed to being among the NFL’s least-penalized teams.

Instead, false starts, holding calls and other mental mistakes have repeatedly sabotaged promising drives.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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