Sean McVay may have an encyclopedic memory.
But game management remains a problem for Super Bowl-winning coaches.
McVay made some questionable decisions that didn't pan out Sunday night in the Rams' 24-23 road loss to the Lions in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
With just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, a fourth-and-14 punt at the Lions' own 44-yard line backfired, and the Rams were unable to get the ball back.
“We still had a timeout, four minutes had passed, and the way our defense played, we were hoping it would get stopped,” McVay told reporters after the game about his decision to punt.
“It's 20/20 in terms of results. I certainly regret that decision now.”
McVay is one of the brightest offensive minds in sports and did a great job leading the Rams to the playoffs, but his in-game strategy has been questioned at times during his tenure.
Those details are especially important in a close game late in the fourth quarter, and McVay couldn't help himself by using two timeouts early in the first half.
As a result, the Rams took a timeout with less than five minutes left in the game when they were forced to the Lions' 34-yard line, and then were forced back 10 yards on a holding call.
Then, an incomplete pass put the Rams in a difficult position, forcing them to choose between going 4th-and-14, going for a 62-yard field goal, or punting for a stop.
The Surrender Index rated Punt as cowardly.
“LAR made a 4th-and-14 punt from DET 44 to DET with 4:15 left in the 4th, even though they were down 23-24,” the Surrender Index tweet reads.
“With a Surrender Index of 29.05, this punt ranks in the 99.2nd percentile of sneaky punts for the 2023 season and ranks in the 98th percentile of all punts since 1999.”
McVay also did not call a timeout before the two-minute warning, instead using a timeout on the other side of the two-minute warning, preventing the Rams from getting the ball back.
In theory, the Rams could have gotten the ball back within 30 seconds and likely would have been pinned deep in their own half, but at the time the Lions were more aggressive with their play-calling from the two-minute warning. It would be.
