The Rams won’t be the only no-shows at the Super Bowl. President Trump will be conspicuous in his absence from the biggest annual, single-day sporting event in the United States.
“It’s just too far away,” Trump told the New York Post. “I would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter.”
Or perhaps not so far to his left?
Super Bowl LX will be played Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, part of the San Francisco Bay Area that Trump has so often reviled.
The teams — the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks — hail from deeply entrenched blue states. Massachusetts and Washington have voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1988.
Trump also has expressed disgust over the musical performers at this year’s game: Bad Bunny and Green Day, both unabashed critics of the current administration. Bad Bunny will play the halftime show while Green Day will perform ahead of the kickoff.
“I’m anti-them,” Trump said. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
Ahead of a tour last fall to promote his most recent album, Bad Bunny (whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio) announced he would skip the United States because he was afraid of ICE raids at his concerts. The Puerto Rican superstar — who has nearly 84 million monthly listeners on Spotify — explained why he made an exception for the Super Bowl.
“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” he said in a statement. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown. This is for my people, my culture and our history.”
Green Day, an American pop-punk band of almost 40 years, has since Trump’s first term swapped a line in the lyrics of the 2004 hit “American Idiot” from “I’m not part of a redneck agenda” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.”
Turning Point USA, the conservative non-profit founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced in October that it would stage its own counterprogramming to the Super Bowl and stream it on conservative outlets. The “All American Halftime Show” is billed as “Celebrating Faith, Family, & Freedom.” As of Monday, musical artists had not been announced.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl a year ago when he received a muted, mixed reaction of cheers and boos in New Orleans. But this year, the 5½-hour flight from Washington D.C. to the Bay Area apparently is too long for the president, who in January alone has flown to Switzerland, Detroit and Palm Beach.
The NFL has resisted pressure to replace Bad Bunny with a performer more politically palatable to Trump.
“There’s a lot of people right now who don’t like Bad Bunny being in the Super Bowl halftime show,” NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis said at a conference in October. “Well, not everyone has to like everything we do. Bad Bunny is f—ing awesome.”
Not everyone has to like the teams that earned Super Bowl berths and the states they call home, either. And not everyone has to approve of the venue. That includes the President, who made it clear that if he decides to watch, he’ll do so from a distance.
Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki, who will be returning to the starting rotation after missing most of last year’s regular season because of a shoulder injury, was not selected. Sasaki was on Team Japan in 2023, starting two games — including a dramatic semifinal win over Mexico.
In his earlier announcement, Ohtani did not indicate whether he would pitch in the WBC and on Monday Ibata told reporters that the team will get a better sense once Ohtani reports to spring training next month.
In the 2023 WBC, Ohtani won tournament MVP with a .435 batting average and 1.86 pitching ERA, helping Japan to the title. He punctuated the event with his memorable strikeout of Mike Trout for the final out in the championship game.
Eight major leaguers were named to Team Japan’s WBC roster, including the Angels left-hander Yusei Kukuchi, Padres left-hander Yuki Matsui, Blue Jays infielder Kazuma Okamoto, White Sox infielder Munetaka Murakami, Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki and right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, currently a free agent who pitched for the Baltimore Orioles last year.
MLB players are expected to join Team Japan for exhibition games on March 2. Japan will open WBC play on March 6 against Taiwan.
A decision on whether Pakistan will boycott next month’s men’s T20 World Cup is set to be made by early next week.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair Mohsin Naqvi held talks with the country’s prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, on Monday to discuss their participation in light of Bangladesh’s withdrawal.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) replaced Bangladesh with Scotland on Saturday for the tournament which is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka between 7 February and 8 March.
Naqvi said in a post on X, external he had “a productive meeting” with Sharif where he “briefed him on the ICC matter”.
“He [Sharif] directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table,” Naqvi said.
“It was agreed that the final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday.”
BBC Sport understands that in addition to a full boycott of the tournament Pakistan officials are considering just boycotting their match against India.
Pakistan are due to play India at the T20 World Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 15 February in accordance with an agreement signed last year saying the two countries will play at neutral venues whenever one of them hosts an ICC event.
Political tensions mean the two countries have not faced each other outside men’s major tournaments since 2013, while India have not played in Pakistan since 2008.
The ICC has been approached for comment.
Pakistan’s response comes after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had asked for their World Cup fixtures to be switched from India citing safety concerns.
There has been growing tensions between the countries and Bangladesh requested their games were played in Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament, instead.
The ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request, saying there was an “absence of any credible security threat” before the BCB reaffirmed its position.
BBC Sport understands Pakistan supported Bangladesh’s position in an emergency ICC board meeting held last Wednesday.
In a statement released last Saturday, in which they announced the decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland, the ICC said it had “engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner”.
“In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule,” the ICC statement added.
The ICC also said it was keen not to establish “precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events”.
This month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India told Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders to drop Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman because of political tensions.
The Dodgers’ $240-million signing of Kyle Tucker revived anguished cries that the team is ruining baseball. It also revived a strange chapter in team history, with frenzied online commentary that the signing of Tucker was made possible in large part because Major League Baseball long ago rewarded the Dodgers’ owners with preferential financial treatment that continues to this day.
Is that true?
Yes and no.
Uh, thanks. Go on.
Remember Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ former owner?
With the Dodgers’ local TV rights soon to expire, McCourt realized bidders for the team might offer more — and he might make more — if the bidders knew in advance how much the league would take from the sale of those rights.
In a settlement with McCourt — and to avoid the risk of the judge imposing a deal less favorable to the league — MLB agreed the fair-market value of a Dodgers TV deal would be based on the very Fox deal that Selig had rejected.
Why did that matter?
That value was $84 million for the first year and would increase thereafter, with the league taking its standard 34% cut and sharing that among all its teams.
However, with a bidding war looming between Fox Sports and Time Warner Cable, Selig knew the rights would be worth more than Fox had offered in its extension with McCourt, who needed immediate cash.
In bankruptcy court, an attorney for Guggenheim, the winning bidder and still the Dodgers’ owner, said the settlement represented a “substantial component of the value proposition of the transaction” — that is, a primary justification for the then-record $2.15-billion purchase price.
In 2013, one year after buying the team, Guggenheim sold those local TV rights. Were they indeed worth more?
You might as well ask if Shohei Ohtani is good. The rights that McCourt wanted to sell for $3 billion were bought by Time Warner Cable for a record $8.35 billion.
Because of the settlement, the league would take its cut based on a deal worth $3 billion rather than based on a deal worth $8.35 billion.
And the league was fine with this, because it wanted to help a marquee franchise return to glory?
LOL, no. In 2012, an MLB attorney had warned the court that the settlement could result in a league of “the Dodgers and the other 29 teams.” Under its terms, the Dodgers could keep tens of millions of dollars each year that otherwise would be shared with the league.
In the wake of the massive Time Warner deal, Selig’s office told other owners it planned to treat television revenue for the Dodgers like television revenue from any other team.
However, thanks to McCourt, the bankruptcy court was in charge, not the league. MLB did not have the power to redo the court-approved settlement, because Guggenheim could have asked the court to uphold the deal and order the league to abide by it.
After negotiations, MLB and Guggenheim made a modest adjustment, setting the “fair-market value” of the Time Warner deal at about $130 million for the first year rather than $84 million. That figure is used to determine the league’s cut, which for all local TV deals has since increased from 34% to 48%.
Just about every report on the Dodgers’ TV deal says the team is guaranteed $334 million each year. Is that accurate?
That $334 million is the annual average. The deal started at a lower value and increases every year.
By the time the deal ends in 2038, the Dodgers will be getting more than $500 million per year.
How is that possible? Aren’t local sports channels dying?
The parent company of the FanDuel Sports channels — including the one that carries the Angels — emerged from bankruptcy last year but now is fighting to remain in business. If your company spends millions upon millions on sports rights, and if your financial success depends on cable and satellite customers paying for a programming bundle that includes sports channels most viewers do not watch, you’re doomed.
The Angels’ local television revenue took a big hit last year and probably will do so again this year. The Milwaukee Brewers, the team that plays in the smallest market in the majors, reportedly got $35 million in its FanDuel deal last year.
The Dodgers own SportsNet LA through a related entity, American Media Productions (AMP), and the television revenue comes via a marketing and distribution agreement with Charter Communications, which inherited the deal when it acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016.
Charter’s revenue in 2024: $55 billion. The giant television, telephone and broadband company is not going out of business anytime soon, even as it is stuck with a money-losing Dodgers deal.
What did Dodgers chairman Mark Walter say upon the establishment of SportsNet LA?
“The creation of AMP will provide substantial financial resources over the coming years for the Dodgers to build on their storied legacy and bring a world championship home to Los Angeles.”
Nailed it. So why would Walter consider forsaking some of those substantial financial resources?
That would require teams to turn over their local broadcast rights to the league. The Dodgers’ local television revenues provide a massive competitive advantage. It’s hard to imagine Walter (and owners of other big-city teams with similar TV riches) surrendering those riches without the league offering him something significant in return.
Like what?
Perhaps a chance to exempt the Dodgers from sharing ticket revenue, or to secure the Japanese television rights now controlled by MLB. Maybe the league would buy SportsNet LA. Could be anything. But that is a 2028 issue. First up is collective bargaining, and the possibility of owners shutting down the sport next winter in pursuit of a salary cap.
Ranked 27th in the world, Jovic is playing her first Grand Slam as a seeded player.
Just 12 months ago, she was 191st in the rankings.
She won a first WTA Tour-level title at Guadalajara in Mexico during a breakthrough 2025 season, while she also won her first WTA 125 title at the Ilkley Open.
And she started 2026 on the front foot – reaching the semi-finals in Auckland before a run to the Hobart International final, where she lost to Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
“She is like a shining light, she’s burst on to the scene, she’s risen up so quickly but she brings a sense of purpose every single time she hits the ball, and you just watch the intensity of the footwork and there’s purpose behind every single ball she’s hitting,” former British number one Annabel Croft told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Jovic has won 11 matches already this year – more than anyone else on the WTA Tour.
“This is such great news for women’s tennis and I’m so excited every time she steps on the court because she brings so much sunshine and so much light, a beautiful energy,” former world number five Daniela Hantuchova added.
“She is the ultimate professional, super disciplined and committed and her technique is unbelievable.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. It was a historic weekend for coach Harvey Kitani, who became only the third high school basketball coach in state history to reach 1,000 wins.
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Harvey Kitani is surrounded by his players after earning his 1,000th career victory on Friday night at Mater Dei in Rolling Hills Prep’s 60-45 win over Bishop Gorman.
Many of his victories came during a 35-year stay as head coach at Fairfax. Let me offer some of the most memorable moments covering him since 1979.
No. 1 is when his star player, Sean Higgins, called a news conference in 1987 to announce his college choice. He signed with UCLA. But Higgins didn’t show up to the news conference. Sitting in the principal’s office and waiting and waiting for Higgins to arrive was so strange. Then word came that Higgins was pressured to sign with UCLA by his stepfather. He ended up getting released from his letter of intent and enrolling at Michigan.
The Fairfax vs. Westchester rivalry became one of the best in the Southland. Westchester coach Ed Azzam, who is the City record holder for most career wins, always got along with Kitani, who hired Azzam to teach middle school students when he retired. Their teams played for City titles against each other in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2015. Those were the days. Besides playing two league match-ups they’d face off again in the playoffs.
He retired from teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2016 and decided to accept the coaching position at Rolling Hills Prep, which is 15 minutes from his home and where two of his sons attended.
“If Fairfax was here, I’d still be at Fairfax,” he said.
He’s won four Southern Section titles. He truly has a body of work to admire.
“Unbelievable,” he said of staying in coaching for 46 years.
Boys basketball
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s NaVorro Bowman scored 26 points in a win over Harvard-Westlake on Saturday.
(Craig Weston)
NaVorro Bowman, a junior guard for Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, has thrust himself into consideration for Mission League MVP. He had 26 points Saturday in Notre Dame’s 71-66 win over Harvard-Westlake. The Knights are on the verge of finishing second in the regular season and clinching a playoff spot before the Mission League tournament begins Thursday.
Sierra Canyon, led by Brandon McCoy and Brannon Martinsen, a pair of former Trinity League all-stars, defeated Harvard-Westlake to lock up the No. 1 seed for the Mission League tournament. Here’s the report.
Former Notre Dame star Monte Marcaccini has returned to high school basketball as an assistant coach at Oaks Christian, where his son, James, is a promising freshman. Here’s the report.
Palisades, which hasn’t played a basketball game or any sporting event on its campus since the Palisades fire in January of 2025, will hold its first home basketball game Thursday against Fairfax at 6 p.m. Classes return to the campus Tuesday. Palisades (11-11) has emerged as the favorite to win the City Open Division basketball title.
L.A. Southwest College and Pasadena City College are expected to be the championship sites for the City Section basketball finals Feb. 27 and 28.
Cleveland won an important West Valley League game against rival Birmingham. Here’s the report.
The City Section’s top four teams have become real clear: Palisades, Cleveland, Birmingham and Washington Prep.
Second-year coach Leon Jacob has turned around the Angelou program. Here’s the report.
Aryanna Reyes of Pioneer set a school record with a 52-point performance against Artesia.
🏆 ⚡️RECORD BREAKING SENIOR NIGHT ⚡️ 🏆
A night she’ll never forget. A performance for the history books. 💐🐐 Aryanna Reyes made history with a career-high & school record 52 POINTS 🤯 ➕ 11 REBOUNDS | 6 ASSISTS in a win over Artesia. Built for the moment. Destined for… pic.twitter.com/EpAkeTO6TI
Changes are coming in the Southern Section power rankings. No. 2 JSerra lost to Santa Margarita in a Trinity League game. Mater Dei upset highly regarded Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas. Etiwanda routed No. 5 Rancho Christian 104-73.
For some reason, the rankings always ignore Etiwanda in the early going even though the Eagles always contend for Southern Section and state titles. Sierra Canyon is 21-2 and headed for another unbeaten Mission League season. The Trailblazers have never lost a Mission League game.
Harvard-Westlake, led by freshman Lucia Khamenia, has moved into a tie for second place with Marlborough in the Mission League.
Ontario Christian remains No. 1 with a 25-1 record.
Reagan Enright from Rolling Hills Prep scored the 1,000th point of her career.
Westchester is 17-3 and 6-0 in the Western League behind the City Section’s best player, Savannah Myles, averaging 22.1 points. Here’s the report.
Wrestling
Abraham Datte of Monroe is the two-time City Section heavyweight wrestling champion and wants to be a paramedic.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Abraham Datte is a two-time City Section heavyweight wrestling champion from Monroe who wants to become a paramedic. He chose Monroe because of its Fire Academy. Here’s a profile.
The Southern Section Divisional championships are set for Feb. 13-14.
Here are the boys’ sites.
Central — Westminster High
Coastal — Fountain Valley High
Eastern — Canyon Springs High
Inland — Great Oak High
Northern — Moorpark High
Southern — Glenn High
Here are the girls’ sites.
Central — San Dimas High
Eastern — Roosevelt High
Northern — Adelanto High
Southern — Marina High
The Masters Meet is Feb. 20 for boys and Feb. 21 for girls.
The state championships are Feb. 26-28 at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.
Soccer
South East (16-1-3) and El Camino Real (12-3-1, 5-0-1) are looking like the teams to beat in City Section boys soccer. El Camino Real plays at Birmingham on Wednesday.
Servite handed Mater Dei its first defeat 2-1 to move ahead of the Monarchs in the Trinity League standings.
Cathedral is 12-2-1 and 4-0-1 in the Del Rey League heading into a big match Friday at Bishop Amat.
In girls soccer, Santa Margarita is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section power rankings and is 13-0-2.
Baseball
Chatsworth coach Marcus Alvarado has resigned.
(Nick Koza)
Marcus Alvarado, who coached Chatsworth to a 2022 City Section Open Division championship, said he resigned on Friday, saying he had lost his love for baseball after repeated complaints from parents. Here’s the report.
Gabe Cerna, the baseball coach at Sun Valley Poly since 2009, has been replaced by his assistant, Freddy Flores, who will be an interim coach. Cerna also was the school’s athletic director. Cerna is now teaching at Fulton Prep. He said the school decided to go in “a different direction.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jack Flaherty, Nik Turley and Josh Satin were on hand on Saturday for a ceremony. Meanwhile, the baseball team played teams from Las Vegas, and No. 1 pitcher Justin Kirchner, a Yale commit, struck out 10 in four innings.
Notes . . .
There was an altercation Friday night at the conclusion of the Chatsworth at Taft girls’ basketball game involving the Chatsworth coach and a relative of one of his players. L.A. School Police are investigating. Here’s the report.
Oaks Christian has hired Rudy Carlton as its new football coach. He was an assistant coach at JSerra last season and has extensive college coaching experience from his days at Azusa Pacific. Former Oaks Christian standout Ron Pitts is becoming the general manager and the school is creating an advisory council of former NFL players. . . .
Matt Villasenor has resigned as football coach at Nogales to become head coach at Muir. . . .
Dujuawan Jones is the new football coach at San Marino. . . .
Former Corona del Mar and UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers has been hired to coach quarterbacks at Corona del Mar. . . .
A lawsuit targeting St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro has misfired after a judge’s rulings. Here’s the report. . . .
Kevin Encinas is the new football coach at Nogales. . . .
The Southern Section Council will discuss a proposal Tuesday that would allow football at-large playoff berths for teams with a .300 or better overall record. It’s currently .500 or better. The aim is not to allow teams with 1-9 or 2-8 records. It’s a non-action item. . . .
Jaden Soong competes at the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Saticoy Club in Somis.
(Courtesy of SCGA)
Sophomore golfer Jaden Soong of St. Francis will try to qualify for the PGA’s Farmer’s Insurance Open on Monday in Mission Viejo. He needs to finish in the top four. He turns 16 on Monday. . . .
After only one season as coach, Doug Bledsoe said he has resigned as football coach at Narbonne. He took over the program after numerous rules violations resulted in a three-year postseason ban by the City Section and an exodus of players. Narbonne went 0-10. . . .
Garfield running back Ceasar Reyes set a school record with 420 yards rushing and four touchdowns in win over South Gate
Shortstop Bobby Brooks from La Habra has committed to Sacramento State. . . .
Even though Morningside High has closed, former Morningside basketball star Stais Bozeman had his jersey retired Friday.
From the archives: Ryan Turell
Yeshiva’s Ryan Turell brings the ball up court against St. Joseph’s Anton Jansson.
(Joe Bednarsh / Yeshiva Athletics)
Former Valley Torah basketball star Ryan Turell is playing for Haifa in Israel’s second division pro basketball league. He entered this week averaging 13.3 points.
He became a standout college player at Yeshiva. He had one game in which he scored 51 points.
🚨 **STATE RECORDS + NATIONAL SOPHOMORE RECORDS ALERT! 🚨 Servite High sophomore twin speedsters Jorden and Jace Wells break the U.S sophomore class and California indoor records at 60 meters & 200 meters, respectively! 🔥 It’s January! This is crazy!! 📸: @Wellstwins28… pic.twitter.com/z9eSjaJwti
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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When it comes to improved teams, the girls’ basketball team at St. Monica Academy in Montrose has had a big turnaround under first-year coach Vic Karapetian.
The team is 15-3 and 10-1 in the Heritage League after going 1-26 in league play the previous two years.
There are no seniors on the roster, and three freshmen have been making major contributions.
Karapetian had previous success coaching at AGBU and Mesrobian.
Mary Tomooka and Victoria Grigsby, the freshman backcourt duo, have been key players.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Late in the mess that was the Rams’ final game of the season, Sean McVay was seen frustratingly burying his face in his play card.
That couldn’t hide the truth.
The Rams’ 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in the NFC championship game must be draped on the deflated shoulders of the Rams’ resident genius.
As blasphemous as it sounds when referencing one of the greatest coaches in Los Angeles sports history, this one was on McVay.
A day after his 40th birthday, McVay coached like he was no longer the child prodigy, but instead an aging leader who leaves himself open to second-guessing.
McVay has rarely deserved criticism in his nine successful seasons here. But in the wake of an afternoon at Seattle’s deafening Lumen Field that should have propelled the Rams to the Super Bowl, this is one of those times.
A confusing final possession of the first half. Another special teams miscue. A bad decision to pass up a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter.
It all added up to negatively impact a game the Rams could have won, and should have won.
“I love this team and I wasn’t ready to stop working with them,” McVay said. “This was a special year, it’s hard to fathom that it’s over.”
It shouldn’t be over. The Rams gained 479 yards against the league’s top-rated defense. They only committed four penalties. The offense didn’t have a turnover. Matthew Stafford was brilliant, 374 yards, three touchdowns, countless big throws.
The Rams were great, but during the biggest moments, they got goofy, and basically handed the Super Bowl invitation to the Seahawks on a grass-stained platter.
What was McVay thinking?
Rams coach Sean McVay watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter of a 31-27 loss to the Seahawks in the NFC championship game Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Begin with the Rams’ possession at the end of the first half, after they scored a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead and their running game was rolling and they had a chance to capitalize on their momentum.
But instead of continuing to pound the ball and at least run down the clock, they threw twice in three plays, both incompletions, and had to punt after just 39 seconds, thus giving the ball back to the Seahawks with 54 seconds remaining in the half. Sure enough, the Seahawks then went 74 yards in 34 seconds, highlighted by a 42-yard pass from reborn Sam Darnold to Jaxon Smith-Njigba against Kam Curl and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass to an uncovered Smith-Njigba to give them a 17-13 halftime lead.
The strategy by McVay was so flawed, it was actually criticized by Tom Brady on Fox, and Brady rarely criticizes anybody.
“The finality of all of it, I didn’t really expect this,” McVay said. “We had our chances … a couple of critical errors that ended up costing us. … I’m pretty numb.”
The next mistake occurred at the start of the second half with — surprise, surprise — more special teams struggles. This time it was Xavier Smith muffing a punt and Dareke Young recovering on the Rams’ 17-yard line. On the next play, Darnold hit former UCLA star Jake Bobo for a touchdown pass ahead of Quentin Lake to give the Seahawks a 24-13 lead.
“It was costly,” McVay said. “That was a tough one.”
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Gary Klein breaks down what went wrong for the Rams in their 31-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field.
Special teams have haunted McVay for a couple of years. They were so bad earlier this season that he dumped the coordinator. It didn’t matter. They still stink. Coaches always talk about the three phases of the game. McVay clearly doesn’t have a handle on this third phase.
Even with all this, the Rams were driving in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead or at least make a dent in a four-point deficit when another decision went bad.
The Rams had rolled 84 yards in 14 plays and were facing fourth and four at the Seattle six-yard line. There was 4:59 left in the game. That was plenty of time to kick the field goal, take the points, then lean on the defense to stop mistake-prone Darnold long enough to drive back downfield for the winning field goal.
But, no. McVay decided to go for it, and Stafford ended up throwing a pass to a blanketed Terrance Ferguson, the ball fell incomplete, and the Seahawks held the ball until the last 25 seconds.
Take the points! C’mon man, take the points!
If the Rams were within a field goal of winning, the pressure on the Seahawks would have been enormously heightened and the momentum of the ensuing drive would have felt entirely different and even if the Rams still only got the ball back with 25 seconds left and no timeouts … that’s long enough for a field-goal drive.
Rams coach Sean McVay, right, shakes hands with Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald after the Rams’ 31-27 loss in the NFC championship game Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Granted, winning this game was a tough task. The Rams were trying to become only the sixth team to win three consecutive road playoff games. But they seemed up to the challenge and seemed destined to win … until they didn’t.
“A lot of resolve, a lot of resilience from our group, we just came up short,” McVay said.
The Rams will be back. Stafford has given no indication that he’s retiring, Puka Nacua isn’t going anywhere, the heart of the young defense returns and, of course, McVay is back.
One assumes his numbness will eventually disappear. One trusts it will be replaced by some of that resolve and resilience.
