McVay is in many ways a brilliant coach, but it appears that he has blind spots. Here are two examples from the first game:
1. I was shocked that the Rams kept Natson on the roster after the poor judgment he showed as a punt returner last season. Sure enough, he made a serious blunder in the first game by fielding a punt inside his own five yard line. That is the kind of mistake that can make the difference between W and L. No excuse for it, and it's not as if Natson's blunders are offset by the occasional electrifying, game-changing return. On top of showing bad judgment and being a turnover waiting to happen, his ability to return punts is mediocre at best. The Rams would be better off with a sure-handed player with good judgment to sit back and make fair catches or let the ball go when appropriate.
2. With 50 seconds to go in the first half and the Rams leading 13-0, Cam Newton was sacked at his own 18. It was 2nd and 17, and the Rams called a timeout. I immediately felt it was a blunder that would come back to haunt them. If the Rams had let the clock run at that point, I suspect that the Panthers would have done the same, and the Rams would have taken a 13-0 lead into the halftime. After the next play, it was 3rd and 5 at the 30, and the Rams called another timeout with 42 seconds to go. The Panthers got a first down and went on to get a field goal. Little mistakes like this can make a difference between W and L. No excuse for it.
I was concerned that the Rams would have a meltdown this season, with McVay a fading phenom who has emptied his bag of tricks. The passing game didn't look very impressive, and they probably would have lost the game if Gurley hadn't caught fire in the second half. I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I'm a realist, and I hope that McVay can find some new ideas for keeping the Rams offense rolling. Thank goodness they didn't let Malcolm Brown get away. He could be very important this season. I'm just going to briefly mention a few more examples of poor judgment. At a crucial point in the game, the Rams had their backs against the ropes but got a first and goal. With the game on the line, I thought that was a terrible time to put the rookie RB into the game for the first time. With an inexcusable stupid act, Marcus Peters took the Rams out of a first and goal that was an opportunity to put the game away. This is not the type of player that I would have on my team. I would have sent him packing long ago. Needless to say, such nonsense can make the difference between W and L. Why did the kickoff go out of bounds? Was it Zuerlein's fault? Or was it a decision to kick near the sideline? If the latter, that is a poor decision. It's not worth the risk of giving the opponent field position at the 40 yard line. That mistake set the Panthers up to score their first TD. If this is the case, this mistake and the decision to keep Natson don't reflect well on Bones, who has a good reputation, but his decision making would have to start coming into question.
