Rams’ McVay and Stafford lament missed opportunities as they fall short of Super Bowl

SEATTLE (AP) — Sean McVay had zero interest in discussing whether Matthew Stafford, his soon-to-be 38-year-old quarterback, will be back for the Los Angeles Rams next year.

McVay had a bit more to say about how his team came up short against the Seattle Seahawks yet again on Sunday, losing 31-27 in the NFC championship game. The Rams lost twice in a two-month span at Seattle, falling 38-37 in December when the Seahawks converted two 2-point conversions in regulation and a third in overtime.

This loss denied the Rams a chance of winning the franchise’s third Super Bowl and the second and five years for McVay and Stafford.

“I’m never really short on words, and I am right now,” McVay said. “It’s tough, but this is sports, and you got to be able to deal with it.”

Aside from one questionable decision — the Rams going for it on fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6 with 4:59 remaining while trailing by four — McVay had his team humming as usual.

The Rams totaled 479 yards of offense to 396 for the Seahawks. Stafford, an MVP finalist, completed 22 of 35 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns.

Before that critical fourth-down play, McVay raced down the sideline, looking like he might call timeout. But he didn’t, and Devon Witherspoon broke up Stafford pass in the end zone.

“I thought about it, and didn’t decide to do it,” McVay said. “Obviously it didn’t work out for us. But I thought our guys played well. There were a lot of things that we got a lot of what we wanted today. Felt really good about the way that our guys executed, specifically on the offensive side. And you know, that was a situation where we just kind of came up short.”

In the third quarter, the Rams had their latest of several special-teams miscues this season when Xavier Smith muffed a punt and Seattle recovered. On the next play, Sam Darnold connected with Jake Bobo for a 17-yard touchdown and a 24-13 lead.

Smith also juggled a punt earlier in the game.

“That one, it was costly,” McVay said. “I love him. He’s done a great job. … But that was a tough one.”

The Rams countered each time Seattle took a double-digit lead. The NFL’s top-scoring offense put together consecutive touchdown drives after Smith’s gaffe.

Stafford found Davante Adams for a 2-yard touchdown and then connected with Puka Nacua for a 34-yard score.

“It was a battle,” Stafford said. “The whole game wasn’t like we were all just waiting for one play here or there. There’s a million plays in a football game that can turn the tide, and we had our opportunity and didn’t make it.”

Had Stafford completed that fourth-down pass, it could have been the sixth game-winning drive of his playoff career, and third this postseason.

Stafford guided Los Angeles past the Carolina Panthers in the wild-card round with a late TD pass to Colby Parkinson, and then set up Harrison Mevis for a game-winning field goal against the Chicago Bears in the divisional round.

For much of Sunday, he got the better of the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense. But the Seahawks made a few more plays at the end.

“Great football team we just played,” Stafford said. “Feel like it’s a great effort, really good football game, obviously we didn’t come out on top. Tough pill to swallow at the moment.”

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