USA TODAY International Edition
McVay doing it all right in Rams’ revival
It’s easy to see why the Los Angeles Rams ranked among the feel-good stories of the first half of the NFL season. First-year coach Sean McVay took a downtrodden franchise and a perceived bust of a No. 1 overall pick in quarterback Jared Goff and infused them with life, pushing the team to one of the NFC’s best records.
But the true tests awaited in the second half of the season, against the likes of the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as a chance to avenge an earlier loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The young Rams appeared to be overwhelmed in a loss to the Vikings in Week 11.
But on Sunday, McVay and his staff pulled off possibly their best work yet as they guided the Rams toward a 26-20 validation victory over the Saints, who entered the game as one of the hottest teams in football with an eight-game winning streak.
McVay already is viewed as one of the favorites for coach of the year honors. Sunday’s victory, which gave the 8-3 Rams their highest win total since 2006, will only strengthen his case.
But how exactly did this 31-year-old, the youngest coach in the NFL’s modern era, execute the turnaround so quickly? The success stems as much from philosophy as it does X’s and O’s.
The grandson of John McVay, one of the architects of the great San Francisco 49ers teams of the 1980s and ’90s, Sean McVay has grown up in football. He draws on countless lessons from his grandfather, as well as mentors Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan.
McVay’s assistants say that from the day that he took over, the head coach set out to change the culture of the team. First, he filled his staff with coaches with diverse backgrounds and experience. Then he did his homework on holdover players, finding out which of them to weed out and then which new pieces to add.
From the start of offseason workouts, McVay introduced a team motto of “We, not me” to his players, constantly reminding them of the importance of accountability and commitment to one another.
McVay also shared a different daily philosophy or lesson. The assistants would reinforce those ideas throughout meetings and practices.
The daily messages have continued throughout the season — day by day, week by week. The players feed off of McVay’s energy and have bought into his system.
In the week after the loss to the Vikings, McVay told his players, “Don’t blink. … Our goal is in our hands.” He talked about adversity and the importance of responding to it properly.
Sure enough, the Rams didn’t blink. Instead, they rebounded in a big way.
A game at Arizona awaits before perhaps the season’s biggest challenge: a home game against the 10-1 Eagles. Another test follows in the road game against the Seahawks.
But within reach is the opportunity to claim the division, which ranks among that list of goals McVay speaks of.
Film study pays off for Patriots’ Gilmore
New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore delivered a clutch play to close out the first half of his team’s 35-17 win over Miami on Sunday and as a whole had one of the better games of his season while limiting Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker to one catch for 5 yards.
With the Dolphins threatening to score a touchdown that would have cut the Patriots’ lead to 21-17 at halftime, Gilmore jumped a route to pick off a Matt Moore pass in the end zone with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Gilmore didn’t just get lucky on the play, and Moore hadn’t simply made a bad throw right to him.
“I beat him to the spot. I knew the route from film study,” Gilmore explained after the game.
“They ran the same exact route in the first quarter just flipped the formation. They didn’t throw it the first time, but I just played it the second time.”
Based on where Parker lined up, Gilmore knew the receiver could run only one route, so he played off until Moore had committed. Then Gilmore swooped in for the pick.
“That’s the only route he runs in that. It’s the position he was at,” Gilmore explained. “I don’t have eyes on the quarterback. I look at (the receiver) and try to beat him to the spot. I turned my hips and tried to get there. … It’s kind of baiting him a little bit. I don’t think it’s really bating, though, because he wasn’t beating me.”
Asked what else he picked up in film study that helped him limit Parker, usually Miami’s deep threat, Gilmore said, “I was pressing him the whole time and he couldn’t get off the press. I saw it a couple times on film that he struggles off the press.”
Gilmore had gotten off to a slow start with the Patriots after joining the team on a five-year, $65 million contract this offseason.
But improved understanding of the system has helped solve some of the communication issues he struggled with, and film study is helping shore up the other areas that limited his effectiveness earlier this season.