by Paul Teetor
With four minutes left in Sunday night’s riveting playoff game with the Detroit Lions, the Rams were marching toward a go-ahead score when, on third down, rookie receiver Puka Nacua ran a perfect route to get free for a first down catch, the kind he never dropped on the way to setting the NFL rookie records for catches and yards.
Never, that is, unless the defensive back pulls on his jersey and then tackles him before the ball gets there – which is exactly what happened and is a clear violation of the rules.
On the sidelines, Rams coach Sean McVay went crazy screaming for a pass interference call. On the field, quarterback Matthew Stafford threw his arms up in frustration and disbelief at the no-call. But the hear-no-evil, see-no-evil refs just looked away and ignored the blatant pass interference, letting the Lions get away with murder.
Now, faced with fourth and long, McVay made the decision to punt the ball and hope his defense could hold the Lions and quarterback Jared Goff to three plays from scrimmage and force the Lions to punt the ball back to them. After all, they only needed a field goal to win the game and there would be enough time – if the Rams could stop the Lions from getting a couple of first downs.
It was not to be. The Lions twice got first downs, Goff got his revenge for being traded away from the Rams three years ago, and the Rams season ended on a very sour note as the clock ran out on a 24-23 loss.
To lose is one thing, but to lose by one point on a bad, no-call in a playoff game is another thing completely.
So All Ball will say it even if the Rams and McVay are too classy to say it: the Rams got hosed.
Screwed.
Hooked.
Jobbed.
Other than that, it was a great game, full of drama and heroics.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford played great – except when the Rams got into the red zone. Three times they had to settle for short field goals when a touchdown would have given them the lead and ultimately the game.
“The difference in the game was in the red zone,” McVay said. “I’m always going to look at myself first, but there were some execution things.”
The other problem was just as critical: the defense could not muster a pass rush in the first half and too often Goff was given too much time to find open receivers. He connected on his first 10 passes. The Rams never gave him the opportunity to screw up the way he did so many times when he was their quarterback not so long ago.
In the end, the defense got it together and held the Lions to 3 points in the second half. But on the crucial sequence the Rams defense couldn’t stop the Lions from getting a couple of first downs, holding onto the ball and running out the clock.
McVay was both philosophical and gracious to Goff following the bitter defeat.
“The finality of it, it still doesn’t totally resonate,” McVay said. “Jared was really efficient, you can see the command that he has. I’m really happy for him.”
Chargers Go After Harbaugh
Ever since they left San Diego in 2017 and moved to Los Angeles, the Chargers have been the Clippers to the Rams’ Lakers, the Angels to the Rams’ Dodgers. They’ve been the junior varsity playing in the shadow of the varsity, and it seemed that nothing was ever going to change that.
But now that dynamic may be changing. For the first time here in LA, the Chargers look like they are getting up from the kid’s table and going for a seat at the adult’s table. They’re rolling the dice on making an expensive coaching hire that will bring them tons of media attention and make them relevant in LA sports for the first time in their seven years here.
They interviewed Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh Monday afternoon to fill the coaching vacancy created when they finally saw the light and fired incompetent, insecure, and uninspiring Brandon Staley the day after Thanksgiving.
Harbaugh has all the leverage in this pending transaction, and you can bet he’s going to use it and demand the largest coaching contract the Chargers have ever given out.
Indeed, this labor-management situation is so one-sided that it’s fair to say that, really, Harbaugh is interviewing the Chargers to see if they fit his needs. The reality is that if Harbaugh deems the Chargers and their owners, the Spanos family, acceptable then they have to do whatever it takes to hire him.
Coming off his national college football championship win over Washington Monday night, Harbaugh, 60, is almost certainly going to go out on top and return to the NFL, where he coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014.
During that time he compiled an outstanding record of 44-19-1 and took San Fran to three consecutive NFC title games and one Super Bowl. But just like everywhere else he ever coached there was friction with management and ultimately they decided to part ways – and it wasn’t amicable.
Indeed, Harbaugh has always been a rebellious bad boy type with a quirky personality, and that continued right up through this season when he was suspended twice – once for sending a spy to steal opposing team’s signals, and once for recruiting violations.
Looking ahead, it’s clear what the pivotal issue in these negotiations is going to be. The Chargers can offer a great location in LA and a great young quarterback in Justin Herbert, who owns almost all the rookie quarterback records as well as most of the records for the first three years of a quarterback’s career. This past season, his fourth, was wiped out with a series of hand injuries.
But now he’s entering his prime and it’s crucial that the Chargers get the right coach and surround him with the right players, because they may never have another opportunity like this moment, a chance to achieve greatness, in the foreseeable future.
And since Harbaugh was a quarterback in both college and the pros, he figures to be in perfect alignment with Herbert.
But the sticking point is going to be how much control the Chargers are willing to give Harbaugh. When they fired Staley they also fired General Manager Tom Telesco. That means the opportunity is there for Harbaugh to ask for both jobs – to draft the players out of college, recruit them as free agents in the pros, and then coach them.
Given his alpha dog personality, he’s going to want to do both jobs – or at least have final say on all personnel decisions. If he’s as smart as he thinks he is, that will be enough for him.
To do both jobs is impossible in today’s NFL, but to have final say on all player transactions is the perfect compromise, and would free him up to concentrate on his primary job: coaching.
Let’s hope the Spanos family – owner Dean Spanos and his son John, President of football operations – are smart enough to offer that level of control, and that Harbaugh is smart enough to accept that.
Then the Chargers will truly be ready for a seat at the adult’s table.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. Follow: @paulteetor. ER
