Sean McVay stands by Matthew Stafford, says pick-six wasn't just the QB's fault

[theramswire.usatoday.com] Sean McVay stands by Matthew Stafford, says pick-six wasn't just the QB's fault

Cameron DaSilva
January 3, 2022 2:17 pm PT

Matthew Stafford put the Rams behind the eight ball again on Sunday, throwing a pick-six near the end of the first quarter against the Ravens. He giftwrapped Baltimore seven points by throwing an easy interception to Chuck Clark, which he returned 17 yards for a touchdown.

Stafford then threw another interception in the second quarter on a deep shot to Odell Beckham Jr., despite the wide receiver being triple-covered. It wasn’t the best decision, especially considering Van Jefferson was wide open underneath for a first down.


Stafford’s final turnover came in the third quarter on a strip-sack where Rob Havenstein was beat to the inside, allowing Tyus Bowser to force the ball out and give it back to the Ravens.

It’s Stafford’s second straight game with three turnovers, which the Rams don’t want to see this late in the season. But Sean McVay doesn’t sound like a coach who’s worried about his quarterback. After Stafford led a fourth-quarter comeback thanks to a 75-yard game-winning drive, McVay was thrilled to see his quarterback rebound from the turnovers and play well in the second half.

“The quarterback position gets all this attention. What we don’t want to talk about is all the big plays that he made in the drive that we had to have to win the game 20-19. That says to me as much as anything,” McVay said after the game. “Do we want to avoid those? Is he capable of it? There’s no doubt about it. But like I’ve said over and over again, if you look at that first play, a little bit of a miscommunication right there. Still think we can be a little bit better with the decision, but I also didn’t like the play call. It was a bad play call versus the split-safety zone that they were playing. … I’m thinking about all the great plays this guy made in the crunch-time situations. There was a couple plays we want back that have big-time repercussions, but Matthew Stafford doesn’t flinch, he doesn’t blink and I think we’ve seen that in each of the last two weeks.”

The pick-six was an especially costly play in the game and nearly derailed an afternoon in which the Rams were expected to come away with a win. But as is the case with every turnover, there’s a story behind it.

Sean McVay revealed that the wrong route was run out of the slot. He didn’t name the player, but it was Odell Beckham Jr. in the No. 2 spot who didn’t run the correct route. He broke outside just like Tyler Higbee did, which allowed Clark to read the quarterback and break on the ball for the pick.

“We actually had a miscommunication. We didn’t run the right route at the No. 2 spot and that enabled Clark to kind of trigger on Higbee running the out cut from the three spot,” McVay said. “So they were in a split safety, that was a hook player that was kind of playing visual. I thought he made a nice play but I thought overall, takes all 11. Matthew could be better with the location, I could be better with the play call, but we did have a mix-up and we were supposed to have a different route from the No. 2 spot that ended up flushing out that hook player. They made it into a pick-six and that was a tough theme right there. I think the message stays consistent. There are a lot of different narratives about these turnovers and that one was another one.”

You can see Beckham communicating with Higbee before the snap, which indicates he didn’t have the play call correct – understandable for a player who joined the team mid-season. Clark read it perfectly, keeping his eyes on the quarterback and jumping the route.


McVay didn’t mind the deep shot to Beckham on Stafford’s second interception, saying the quarterback was just trying to get the play off quickly and saw the safety coming underneath, thinking there was an opening deep.

It didn’t work out, but McVay won’t blame Stafford for taking a shot on third down.


“He’s a mentally tough guy and that’s what you want from your quarterback. Those will be things we learn from,” he said. “Best thing is, he’ll be the first one to take extreme ownership. That’s why I love this guy so much. … When we had to have it, defense makes a stop, he made big throw after big throw in the clutch situation and that’s what the great players do.”

McVay hasn’t wavered in his support of Stafford all year, and he certainly isn’t now either after throwing five picks and losing a fumble in his last two games. Stafford knows he has to be better and even admitted after the game that he hates going over turnovers and he’s “tired of doing it,” expressing frustration over his own mistakes.

It’s just a matter of getting it done and protecting the ball better than he has in recent weeks.