We can blame the refs for a shitty call - and yes, it's more than legit to point it out - but this loss is first and foremost and almost entirely on Sean fucking McVay, as is this absolute clusterfuck abortion of an underachieving season.
We know about special teams already. But they suck because McVay thinks he can put a band aid on the issue instead of really doing what he needs to do to fix it. No kicker competition brought in this season, no effort to go get a returner.
Defense? Well, we can blame Shula some ... but why the fuck isn't his boss doing something about it? As I mentioned in another post, either McVay is letting Shula call the games this way, or he's making him. There is no third option because the buck stops with McVay. So if we are playing too much soft zone, not being creative with our blitzes and not mixing things up, that ultimately falls on McVay. I will buttress that point by noting that Raheem Morris, who got raked over the coals here for his passive-ass playcalls (and I was definitely one of the most guilty in that respect) - looks like a completely different DC now that he is doing it for our arch enemy. So was he really that bad here, or were his hands tied? Shula is a question mark for me, because I don't know what the head coach is telling him. We did see Shula call a great game against the Eagles a couple of weeks ago, with some really well timed blitzes wreaking havoc on Philly's offense, which, while not great, was at least as good as the Cardinals offense.
Also, can we blame Shula that our ILBs are not that great? McVay has never felt any need to invest in that position. And our D's have suffered more often than not when we need plays from our ILBs. If McVay had a prime Bobby Wagner or prime Ray Lewis, would he have paid them or let them walk in free agency?
That cuts to another one of his weaknesses - his roster management, particularly this year, is fucking atrocious. He didn't do anything to really invest in special teams this offseason, but he goes and trades to get TuTu back, only to keep him on a shelf in a Mason jar most weeks. And while I'm not going to become a member of the TuTu fan club, I'm not a hater either - he at least has speed and IMO he's a better WR than either Mumpfield or Whittington, who are active each week. Why? Because they play STs? Has McVay seen our ST's? Honestly, I don't know what Whittington even offers us - why is he on the roster? Why is he soaking up reps that could go to TuTu or CJ Daniels? And why do you collect WRs if you're not going to use them (much less even dress them on gameday), especially when the bottom of your roster is hurting for good special teams players?
And of course, his playcalling is fucking horrible this year. This is the worst it's been in his tenure with the Rams. He probably spends so much time trying to figure out how he should be calling plays that he neglects other aspects of being a head coach. I'll repeat what others have said in that he needs to give up that part and focus on being the head coach only, but I also know he won't do it even though the need is glaringly obvious at this point.
Someone upthread feared McVay has lost his edge. I'm hoping this is just a slump, which a coach can go through as much as a player can. But I'm definitely worried that it's more than a slump. This team has way too much talent to be 2-4 and losing to a perennial dogshit franchise like the Cardinals. But we are indeed 2-4, and underachieving across the board with no prospects for anything getting better.
Gawd, what a fucking shitshow of a season.