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Los Angeles Rams: 4 grades for Week 9 loss at the Saints

BySteve Rivera|
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 04: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams looks on from the sidelines with Sean Mannion #14 and Robert Woods during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 4, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 04: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams looks on from the sidelines with Sean Mannion #14 and Robert Woods during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 4, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams speaks with Jared Goff #16 their NFL game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 10, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams speaks with Jared Goff #16 their NFL game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 10, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The best coach in the National Football League showed why he is just that in New Orleans in Week 9. Any coach who goes for it on the road in the Superdome against the second best, maybe even the best team in the NFL earns serious kudos for bucking conventional wisdom.

That’s right. Sean McVay could have made the easy call, the one the vast majority of coaches in the league would make and kick a field goal to put points on the board. Instead, after Aaron Donald recovered a fumble in the second quarter, Johnny Hekker would run for a first down on a fake field goal attempt, come up short despite what replay showed, and the Rams would look like they’d be run out of the building.

It didn’t happen that way.

The 10 point loss was closer than you’d think. Los Angeles never looked out of it despite Drew Brees slinging it all afternoon. Even with a suspect defense being picked apart piece by piece over 60 minutes, the feeling was McVay, running back Todd Gurley and quarterback Jared Goff were a big play away from not just being “in the game” but winning it.

Bottom line, as good as the Saints were in Week 9 against the Rams, McVay had them right there for a win.

Sean McVay – B

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