McVay's NFC Championship Mistake: Clock Management

0:00On March 31st, Rams' head coach, Sean McVey, is still kicking himself over one key moment from their NFC championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Late in the first half, with the Rams up 13 to 10, their defense forced a quick three-and-out. On first down, Kyron Williams ran for five yards, but then came two incomplete passes that stopped the clock and handed Seattle the ball back with, under two minutes left. Instead of running again to bleed the clock, those throws gave the Seahawks three fresh downs and all their timeouts. Seattle ripped off a 74-yard drive in just 34 seconds for a go-ahead touchdown right before half-time, flipping the game's momentum. McVey owned up to it on Pro Football Talk, calling it a major mistake in two-minute management. He said he dwells on that play because putting the defense back out there was the wrong move, especially with Seattle's timeouts in play. He does stand by another big call though. Go in for it on fourth down at Seattle's six-yard line late in the fourth, down by four points.

1:01Even after the stop left them with little time, McVey sees it as the right aggressive choice when they needed a touchdown anyway. McVey's taking these lessons into the offseason, sharpening his end-of-half-game management so the Rams come back stronger next season.