Turf Show Times
With the 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Divisional Round, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay earned his 10th playoff win of his career. It moved him into a tie for 14th all-time with coaches like Bill Walsh and George Seifert. What’s unique about McVay’s playoff record is that all 10 wins have also come against 10 different opponents. With McVay set to play his first postseason opponent for a second time, I thought it would be fun to rank each of McVay’s playoff wins.
It doesn’t get much better than the Super Bowl. This was the first Super Bowl win for the Rams since the Greatest Show on Turf during the 1999 season. It was also their first Super Bowl ever in Los Angeles and it came in dramatic fashion. The Rams trailed 20-16 late in the fourth quarter and then Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp took over. Stafford found Kupp on a no-look pass and then finished the drive with a touchdown in the corner of the end zone. Of course, Aaron Donald’s role can’t be overlooked as well. Donald’s pressure on Joe Burrow on fourth down to end the game will go down in history.
An argument can be made that this has been the best postseason win of the McVay era. Heading into this game, the Rams had lost six straight games to the 49ers. They had just lost in Week 18 in overtime after holding a big lead. The Rams trailed, 17-7, heading into the fourth quarter and then Stafford and the defense took over. McVay finally got the Kyle Shanahan monkey off his back and when an Aaron Donald pressure turned into an interception that clinched the game, the Rams sent the 49ers back to Santa Clara.
This was the first NFC Championship game for McVay as the Rams took on the experienced New Orleans Saints. The Rams trailed 13-0 after the first quarter and had their backs against the wall late in the game. Jared Goff led the Rams down the field to tie the game and then a John Johnson III interception in overtime put the offense in position to win the game. With a 57-yard field goal, Greg Zuerlein broke the hearts of Saints fans, Drew Brees, and Sean Payton. The Rams would go on to lose the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots.
The win against the Bears wasn’t McVay’s best coached game by any means, but from a pure entertainment standpoint, it’s hard not to put this one at four. There may be some recency bias, but this was an exciting win. The Rams heard all week about how they couldn’t win in the cold at Soldier Field. McVay was 0-2 at Soldier Field heading into this game. After Caleb Williams hit Cole Kmet on 4th-and-4 in the...
