McVay encourages Rams to three-game winning streak

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Less than three weeks ago, the Los Angeles Rams were at a standstill after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. And as coach Sean McVay assembled his team to regroup from the loss that dropped its playoff percentage to less than 15%, he had a message about how he wanted to attack the final six games of the regular season.

McVay told his players that they had six games and 39 guaranteed days left in this season and he wanted “to see us do everything in our power to commit to doing the best of our abilities in every single thing that we can do.”

“Let’s see where that leaves us,” he said at his Nov. 26 press conference when asked about the landscape of the NFC West. “We can’t sit there and watch other people. If we don’t deal with what we have to deal with, it’s all irrelevant. I feel confident that the approach will give us the best opportunity to play as well as we’ is able to I look forward to learning about ourselves on this stretch.

“… Six games and 39 days in total are guaranteed to us. We will see if we can maximize it. My full focus and concentration will be solely on that.”

That message struck a chord with Rams players, who have won three straight games since McVay delivered that message: in New Orleans, at home against the Buffalo Bills and on the road against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.

The last two games were played over five days, and the two wins were played in very different ways: a 44-42 offensive shootout against the Bills and a 12-6 field goal victory in the rain at Levi’s Stadium. According to ESPN Research, the Rams are the first team to win back-to-back games, first to score 40 or more points and then not score a touchdown since the 1993 Bears.

That the Rams have been able to “find a lot of ways to be able to win football games,” McVay said, is “really cool.”

“I think our team has shown we can win football games any way you want,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

McVay’s challenge to the team lit a fire under running back Kyren Williams, who was coming off a stretch in which he had four fumbles (two lost) in four games, including two (one lost) against the Eagles in Week 12.

“It really hit me when he said that,” Williams said. “And for me, I’m a person who reacts to that kind of thing. I liked that type of thing. I like to realize what the reality of the situation is. And then when he said that, it clicked for me .It clicked that I needed to be able to lock in because obviously I was fumbling with the ball, all that stuff in those times.

“And in order for me to be who I wanted to say I am, I had to work and put my head down and, as I said, go all in.”

In the past three games, Williams has had two games with at least 100 rushing yards. On Thursday night, Williams had his second straight game with 30 or more touches. According to ESPN Research, he is the first player with consecutive 30-touch games since Derrick Henry did it in three straight in 2022.

And despite playing in pouring rain for part of the game — weather that prompted him to take off his gloves before halftime to give him every chance to hold on to the ball — Williams finished with 108 yards on 29 carries and ” ran really hard,” McVay said.

As Stafford heard McVay speak, he thought back to all the work the team had put in this season. “All the OTAs, all the training camp days in August, all the early season injuries, games and things you have to overcome to try to give yourself a chance to have an opportunity to play meaningful football,” Stafford said. The QB referenced that there was “quite a bit of December” in his career, not being part of a team that played meaningful games this late in the season.

“He ruined it for us and did a heck of a job saying, ‘Hey, there’s so many days’ left,” Stafford said. “It’s a great way to encourage the group. I thought it was a great message. He does a great job in front of our team at all times, but it was one that definitely resonated with the group.

“Guys are rallying behind it and continuing to do what we can to try and win games.”

And with three games remaining — on the road against the New York Jets and at home against the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks — the Rams control their playoff destiny, just a half game behind the Seahawks entering the weekend.

And even though the playoffs are within reach, McVay’s message to his team hasn’t changed.

“It’s the same,” McVay said. “I don’t know about all that. I just know that we have the next game and we will do our best to be able to prepare to be ready, put the right plans together, put our players in the right places , and ultimately let’s try to see if we can make it culminate in a great opportunity in the three-hour window and see what that looks like.

“But I think our guys have been really steady and consistent and we can only be one day at a time, one game at a time. That’s what we’re going to continue to do.”