Sean McVay says the Los Angeles Rams need to “clean up” their sloppy play, but it’s probably too late

The Los Angeles Rams invited anyone with three hours to enjoy a fish fry on Monday night.

Anyone who happily accepted the offer in a game against the Miami Dolphins got an upset stomach.

It was the offense that was supposed to lead the Rams into a new era, but Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay couldn’t get his group over the finish line in a 23-15 loss on Monday.

Since the Rams were able to achieve their fourth consecutive victory there, they did not score a touchdown behind quarterback Matthew Stafford. With the current 4-5 record, any ideas of advancing to the playoffs from a terrible 1-4 start have been put on hold.

Stafford played 50 games for the Rams during the regular season. He has only failed to orchestrate a touchdown drive in two of them so far.

“It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Stafford said of the team’s struggles on offense. “We did some really good things and weren’t good enough in some areas. I would say we were inconsistent.”

The Rams were supposed to be all about offense this season, and if anyone’s wondering why, they’ll just have to look in the stands on Monday. Superhero defensive tackle Aaron Donald was in attendance to watch his former teammates, who looked as dapper as ever in retirement.

A young Los Angeles defense should go through growing pains this season, and the offense, stocked with quality players, should move things forward.

Now, if Donald was impressed by any group, it was his previous defense. Miami gained just 238 yards of total offense, well below the Rams’ 327 yards. The Dolphins did it despite only 208 yards passing and an interception from Tua Tagovailoa.

So while the Rams have Stafford, wide receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, and running back Kyren Williams, there is a new group of players looking for top players.

Edge rusher Byron Young and defensive tackle Kobie Turner played alongside Donald in his final season as rookies. Edge rusher Jared Verse and defensive tackle Braden Fiske were drafted after Donald announced his playing days were over.

The Rams had a Fearsome Foursome back in the 1960s, and while this base defense isn’t the same as that one, the current young group can still be referred to as the Ferocious Foursome moving forward.

Will the Rams still make it to the playoffs? Monday’s loss gave them a playoff probability of 13 percent. Just another sign of her bad luck.

Los Angeles gained hope after a difficult start, largely due to a spate of injuries on offense, including Nacua and Kupp, not to mention several starters on offense.

But center Jonah Jackson, left guard Steve Avila and right tackle Joe Noteboom all came off injured reserve to play this week, and yet Stafford was harassed all night by a Dolphins defense that has underperformed this season brought. Stafford was sacked four times, while Nacua and Kupp combined for 16 receptions, but none for touchdowns.

It was just one loss, and yet it seems inevitable that some kind of change is coming for the Rams. After all, there were rumors that Kupp was a trade possibility, and then the deadline passed while he was still in Los Angeles.

The reality is that the front office has signaled that it is willing to explore all options to build a better future.

For all that McVay has accomplished in eight seasons as a head coach, he has yet to develop a quarterback of his own. Stafford is under contract through 2026, and there is no sign of the Rams moving anywhere close to their star. But he won’t play forever.

In a season like this – with games remaining against the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and first-place Arizona Cardinals – you really want to know what happens next.

“There were some executions that needed to be better,” McVay said of his offense, which he said was “sloppy.” “Those are the things we need to clean up if we want to be the type of (effective) team from an offensive standpoint.”

The Rams are just 1.5 games behind the suddenly hot Cardinals in the NFC West and one game behind the second-place 49ers. Hope remains.

But as Monday proved, it’s best to be careful about what’s on the menu.