CINCINNATI – Rams head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford held postgame press conferences with the media following the team's 19-16 loss to the Bengals Monday night at Paycor Stadium, discussing the performance by Los Angeles' offense and defense, and more.
Here are some of the highlights and key takeaways from those conversations which you can watch in their entirety below.
"You get some good momentum early on in that game and you realize just the margin for error." – McVay
- McVay said he loved the way the Rams defense played and thought special teams did a nice job, but felt like the offense's performance left opportunities to learn from.
- While the Bengals were 5 of 17 on third down, the Rams were just 1 of 11.
"Zach Thomas had done a really good job with a lot of the repetitions that he had gotten and felt like making a two-man switch wasn't in the best interest." – McVay
- Asked if there were any conversations about moving Joe Noteboom from right guard to left tackle after Alaric Jackson exited the game with a thigh injury, McVay indicated confidence in Thomas and that making two switches along the offensive line wasn't in the best interest of the team's while trying to get the win.
- "We'll look at the tape and figure out if that's something that we want to do moving forward if Alaric is out for an extended period of time," McVay said.
"Obviously, if we can come away with some sevens there, it's probably a little bit different game later on." – Stafford
- Stafford lamented the Rams offense's struggles in the redzone Monday night, with the unit only coming away with points on one of four trips inside the Bengals' 20-yard line.
- "We didn't do enough on offense, especially early in the game, to give ourselves a little bit of a lead there," Stafford said.
"It was kind of one of those deals where we'd have some nice plays and then, for one reason or another, we'd go backwards there for a little bit." – Stafford
- Stafford still felt there were times he could feel the Rams offense getting into a rhythm despite some of its struggles.
- The biggest example of the above, according to Stafford, was the 46-yard completion to wide receiver Van Jefferson, only for Stafford to have his next pass tipped and intercepted.
