Let’s go back in time a bit. It was September and Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Kupp was injured. So was his teammate Puka Nacua. Early in the season a dozen Rams players were injured. The team was blown out by the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 15.
After that game, McVay was asked if there were any positives he could take away from it. His answer was blunt: ‘There’s nothing positive about it. The only positive thing is that this game is over now and we can move forward.’
The early part of the season, to put it mildly, was a disaster for the Rams. One headline blared: ‘Rams season effectively over with latest Cooper Kupp injury update.’ Yes, that was slightly, umm, overstated. But actually, it wasn’t an entirely crazy notion at the time. The team was physically decimated and the Rams started the season 0-2, and eventually 1-4.
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Then Sean McVay did what he always does. What he is better at than almost any coach in the sport. If there is a crisis, he will manage it. If the team is in an impossible situation, he will pull the Rams out of it by his teeth. If the team is hurt, he will carry it on his back. If energy is needed, he will become the gravitational force of a sun. If innovation is needed, he will become a Starfleet engineer.
Not all the time. He hasn’t been perfect. But close to it.
After starting 1-4, they’d go 4-1 in the next five games. McVay was on his way. McVay doing McVay things.
And here he goes again. The Rams just obliterated the Vikings in the wild-card round. We are seeing The McVay Process yet again. The same process that got him to two Super Bowls, winning one. Now, he wins a postseason game in Arizona because the Rams had to play there due to the California wildfires.
This could have been a spot where the Rams faltered and it of course would have been completely understandable. But there’s no way McVay would allow that to happen.
‘There was definitely every excuse in the book to come out here and be lethargic,’ Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. ‘But we knew we weren’t playing just for us. (We were) playing for people back home that needed something to, you know, watch and enjoy. And I’m glad we could give that to them.’
‘They represented the city the right way. You talk about sports offering a platform for people coming together and offering a little bit of temporary relief. I thought the way our team competed tonight was what it looked like,’ McVay said after the game. ‘To stay connected (and) to stay together. Just the fight, the spirit (and) the resilience. All the different things that are great traits that this team has really built through the challenges that they’ve gone through over the course of this season.’
I don’t want to get into listicle brain and start ranking coaches. I’m not sure where McVay ranks in terms of the best coaches in the league but, hoo boy, there aren’t many I would take over him.
McVay is one of the few coaches in the NFL who has achieved a perfect balance. He gets players and they trust him. He is a splendid technician who can outcoach almost anyone. He’s one of the best communicators in the NFL.
There was a piece of data shared by ESPN this week. The Rams’ victory over Minnesota was McVay’s eighth playoff win. McVay is 38.
No other coach in the history of the NFL has more than five playoff wins before the age of 40, according to ESPN. If that’s accurate, well, that’s remarkable.
Who knows how long this will last? Maybe the Rams lose to Philadelphia in the divisional round. Maybe McVay leaves after this season, especially if he wins another Super Bowl. Whatever happens we’re seeing something pretty unique. It’s like watching a young John Madden.
We might never see anything like this again.
Let’s enjoy it as long as it lasts.
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