19 September 2023 , 19:20
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Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has offered an explanation after his team’s last-minute field goal annoyed NFL gamblers in Las Vegas.
The Rams were beaten 30-23 by the San Francisco 49ers in the Week Two game of the 2023 NFL regular season on Sunday. The loss means that the Rams go 1-1 after the first two games of the year and are second in the NFC West.
McVay was asked about the field goal at the end of the game, which the Rams scored to make the score 30-23, a seven-point deficit. The Rams had almost no time remaining on the clock just as the offense passed midfield before setting up a fourth down.
Brett Maher scored the 38-yard field goal to reduce the points difference to seven. However, the decision to score what proved to be an irrelevant field goal in terms of affecting the Rams’ chances to win the game raised some questions with sections of fans, particularly given the points spread on the game at most sportsbooks was 7.5.
“What we were trying to do is we were trying to be able to get a completion to where we kicked the field goal beforehand with the opportunity to be able to - if we had hit that deep in-breaking route, it really would’ve worked out the way that we wanted to,” McVay said, via .
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“We were going to try to kick a field goal once we got into field goal position to then be able to kick an onside and try to give ourselves the real opportunity to win the game.
“By the time it got down to it, [I] didn’t anticipate that in-cut that we hit Puka [Nacua] running that long and just said, ‘Alright, go ahead and kick the field goal.’
“[I] felt like it was an opportunity to be able to not leave Matthew [Stafford] susceptible to an unnecessary heave to the end zone and get an opportunity for our field goal operation.
“The initial goal was to try to get a two-for-one to where you end up getting into field goal range a little bit earlier with some of the play selections that we had and then ultimately be able to try to have an onside kick to then be able to go try to compete to tie or win the game.
“Apparently, [Rams V.P. of communications] Artis [Twyman] told me there’s a lot of people in Vegas p***** off about that decision. I clearly was not aware of that stuff.”
If San Francisco had won by eight or more points, those backing them against the spread would have won their bets. However, the field goal meant that the points difference was only seven causing headaches for many gamblers.