THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Seahawks were special, the Rams not so special

It’s a mystery.

I can’t think of another word, honestly.

Football coaches let games go by and losses pile up, and they allow it to happen in what you’d have to call a form of negligence.

I’m not just talking about high school JVs or your neighborhood Pee Wee league.

This goes on at every level.

There is more to football than just offense and defense.

Teams can and do win because of how they handle special teams.

The Los Angeles Rams will be watching the Super Bowl on TV — victims of their own special team blunders.

Some coaches, especially in college or the NFL, would argue with me and claim they have things covered.

But there are outliers, like the Rams’ Sean McVay.

These coaches see what’s going wrong, knock themselves out trying to fix it, and still suffer through crucial mistakes that cost them games.

You rarely hear much about special teams — until a huge play or a mind-blowing mistake turns a game upside down.

And then … yep, THEN.

You finally hear coaches and players celebrating what appears to be simple good fortune or moaning about bad luck.

IT’S NOT luck, though.

Not the way some coaches and a lot of fans are suggesting.

Yeah, sure, you can get a wild tip or a crazy bounce that turns into a fumble.

That one single moment can be called a dose of fate, but the bigger picture — a team’s mindset and its day-to-day culture — is a different animal altogether.

This is where you take luck out of it.

McVay admitted after that 31-27 loss to the Seahawks that he has tried and tried to tighten up special teams, knowing (and seeing) how these critical plays can send you sailing to victory or, as happened Sunday, perhaps cost you a spot in the Super Bowl.

If you saw the Hawks’ thrilling victory, you certainly recall the Rams’ Xavier Smith muffing a punt in the third quarter.

Smith got off balance, stumbled and dropped the ball at the Rams’ 17-yard line.

Seattle’s Dareke Young pounced on it, and one play later, Sam Darnold found Jake Bobo in the middle of the end zone to put the Seahawks up 24-13.

Smith’s error could be used as the centerpiece at a special teams clinic.

The Seahawks, who execute almost flawlessly on special teams, saw Smith nearly muff an earlier punt — so they had Pro Bowl punter Michael Dickson change to higher kicks, giving the coverage a shot at Smith.

Meanwhile, Seattle coaches worked with Young on the sideline, explaining that he had not been positioned well on the first near-miss.

There was a quick class on body shape, so when Smith actually fumbled the second kick, Young was in a perfect spot for the recovery.

All those special teams “moments” came together and bit the Rams.

ALL THIS just drives McVay crazy.

He changed placekickers in mid-season, and fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn in December.

The kicking problem seemed solved with the addition of Harrison Mevis, but the Rams keep stumbling over ANOTHER special teams issue.

The Seahawks rallied to beat L.A. in overtime in Week 16, a result that ultimately set up Seattle with home-field advantage for the NFC title game (and the previous win over the 49ers).

In that game, Seattle burned the Rams with a punt return.

Here’s the description from NFL.com’s Jourdan Rodrigue:

“Rashid Shaheed took a punt 58 yards to the house to kickstart a Seahawks overtime comeback.

“Did they know how much of an advantage they held over the Rams in that phase heading into the game?

“Seattle names captains on a game-by-game basis, and Shaheed was given the honor on Sunday for the first time since he arrived via trade in November.

“If it was a wink by Macdonald, it was a good one.”

There’s something almost mystical about coaches who can create special teams magic.

They’re hunted like precious gems.

There was a period of maybe 20-25 years when the same few college teams created all sorts of special teams havoc: Virginia Tech (when Frank Beamer was the coach), Kansas State and Air Force come to mind.

They blocked kicks, ran them back, fooled teams into committing penalties and caused all kinds of mayhem.

I could never understand why opponents were not prepared.

Maybe I’ll save that question for McVay.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On."