“Poor decision by me right there, but give the Niners credit,” McVay said. “They made enough plays to be able to win the football game. We had plenty of chances throughout this game. We stayed in it, we fought, we battled, but there’s a lot of things that we have to be able to clean up, and a lot of football left.
“I’m pretty sick right now. I’m sick of the spot that I put our group in to end the game. But hey, these are the tough beats that you’ve got to be able to learn from and move forward, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The sequence that preceded the game’s final snap suggested McVay had a better play in mind. As soon as Williams’ third-down reception concluded short of the line to gain, McVay was already confidently calling his fourth-and-1 play.
Sensing the 49ers might give up a crucial first down, coach Kyle Shanahan wisely called a timeout before the fourth-down play began. It was a snap decision that may have won San Francisco the game.
After the timeout, McVay seemed to waver, lining up the Rams with instructions to attempt to draw the 49ers offside. San Francisco didn’t take the bait, forcing McVay to devise a new plan of attack.
In that moment, McVay was backed into a corner and made the decision to trust his running back with an uncharacteristically simple call. Having already moved beyond the point of no return, the coach knew he couldn’t relent and line up for a field goal. Call it foolish or prideful if you must; in the end, McVay saw it as regrettable.
“No. No,” McVay said when asked if he’d considered kicking the field goal. “In hindsight, I wish I would’ve. We came in here to try to win the football game. It didn’t go down for us. That wasn’t even a thought. The play selection was very poor. I’m sick right now because I put our players in a s—-y spot. I’ve got to live with that.”
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