Making a champion - Break down of McVay's Super Bowl game plan

[VegasRam]

Not positive, but I think all but one of the cheats SB wins were by 3 points.

And…their win in ‘18 was hardly he beat down it is portrayed to be. IIRC, it wad 7-3 with under 5 to go..

Bottom line, the media can go fuck themselves.

I also want to hear the what ifs after we win it all next year.

 

[sacram]

I love McVay.
I also question him and occasionally, when warranted, I criticize him as much as any around here...

The Bengals were no juggernaut, but they earned their way just like we did. They were not an easy team to beat, a deceptively good defense, team coached by a McVay disciple...

No run game, no TEs, no OBJ, McVay was missing everything but a QB and a WR. He found a way to win anyways.

I don't think outsiders really understand or appreciate how much McVay is a multi faceted coach... some HCs are Xs and Os guys, play call gurus and uber-coordinator's, some are emotional leaders or effective teachers... McVay does all of those and all at a very high level to boot.. Navigating this team through this season to this ending required every one of McVays skills and instincts and nobody else would've been able to make this happen the way it did.

I respect and understand Jourdans take on this, but I'm of the opinion that McVays SB performance was totally praise worthy.
If OBJ stayed in, if he had Higbee, I bet his run game would've opened up more too and McVays offense would've had a big night against a good defense...

....although if that happened, the narrative would be about how bad Cincinnatis defense was and how any offense could've done that...

I agree with pretty much all of that.

If I remember correctly Jourdan and Hammond seemed puzzled that McVay stuck with the run during the 11 personnel podcast...meanwhile Hammond, has been one of the biggest "run the damn ball" guys around. I appreciate that McVay stuck with it, and that is likely one of the biggest reasons we ultimately won the game.

 

[gogoat1]

I completely agree. McVay definitely deserves credit for sticking to the run, despite getting pretty much nothing from it for the entire game. In year's past, McVay may not have done that. I'm not sure on the play run calling adjustments that were mentioned in the video, as I'm not an X's and O's kind of guy, but he definitely deserves some credit for not completely bailing on the run game.

Sticking with the run almost cost him the game.

 

[FarNorth]

If McVay didn't continue to show run, Stafford gets clobbered in the 2nd half.

Kupp had single coverage on the game winning TD because the Bengals expected the Rams to run and stacked the line.

 

[FarNorth]

Meh. He won. McVay didn't have a great game IMO, but when the Rams needed a play the most, they got one. You might argue it was due to defensive scheme incompetence as much as anything else, but on the game-winning drive, McVay successfully got Kupp 1 on 1 vs. Eli Apple in the end zone.

As noted, McVay was also coaching with some pretty major handicaps. The Rams were extremely short handed offensively. And OBJ was an absolutely huge part of the game plan. When he got hurt, the Rams had to essentially change up the script on the fly in the Super Bowl.

I don't think anyone can be too hash on McVay for his Super Bowl. I really liked how he stuck with the run in the face of the Bengals stuffing it, which I was surprised he did, but then when it mattered, put the game in the hands of his play-makers.

Interesting video nevertheless.

Not complaining about winning the Super Bowl, but... our run game was a disappointment. Linebackers stuffing the gaps. Maybe it was related to OBJ going down but didn't expect the Bengals to be as effective.

Obviously McVay and the staff will look at it and hopefully have some counters ready against similar tactics in the future.

 

[Badfinger]

You know what "almost lost the Super Bowl" means?

Means you won the fukin Super Bowl.

 

[oldnotdead]

Personally, I think McVay and Morris did a fine job in coaching the Super Bowl. Breakdowns of the play show how the Bengals had to resort to cheating to stay in the game. Much of the struggles with both the passing and run attack were due to obvious uncalled holding and PI.

McVay adjusted his offense, something he simply isn't known for, to his depleted offense. In the end, he resorted to the one receiver the Bengals could not stop, except by committing holding or PI. Those errors in the red zone by the Bungles were the results. More than one WR has said that in the red zone you cannot lay hands on a WR as the Bungles did without getting called. They all know that but did it anyway because they were desperate. They were outmatched and they knew it. So all the complaining about the refs was set up by McVay.

There is no doubt in my mind had Morris played the defense all season as he did in the playoffs this team would have been the #1 seed, but ultimately it all worked out. Morris is going to be the DC next season so I hope he learned his lesson about staying in a soft zone.

I'm stoked about next season. I see Harris taking OBJ's spot until he can return, probably late in the year. Both Blanton and Hopkins looked like they had their breakout behind Higbee. So combined with Woods the offense looks in good shape. IMO Whitworth is waiting to retire based upon the Rams being able to come to terms with Noteboom. I'm confident they will and he will be a worthy successor to Whit. I see Allen returning, but both OG spots are up for grabs though Corbett is a serviceable starter. Shelton really needs to step into that second OG spot as a bridge.

Their assessment of Alaric will determine whether or not Havenstein stays. I'm sorry but 7 regular season and 2 post season sacks blows a hole in the opinion he's a good RT.

If they can lock down Miller the Rams will have another year with one of the best DLs in the league. AD 15 sacks, Von Miller 9 sacks and Leonard Floyd with 12 sacks is testimony to why LA doesn't need to blitz. They threaten it to single up the blocking by the OL but most of the time they back off. With Jones, Howard (assuming the re-sign him) and Hollins they are fine at LB. I see Rochell replacing Williams and the Rams playing Burgess more this year. With Rapp, Fuller, and Burgess they have their nickel. Rapp as their in the box SS with Burgess and Fuller in Morris' shell.

Robinson proved when he wants to he can be the answer to plugging the middle along with Gaines. Gaines is the starter with Robinson rotating in on run downs. With the two of them, short-yardage was no gimme for the opposition. Robinson showed he's everything SJD isn't.

Because of Morris' soft defense the Ram defense finished the regular season ranked 20-21 but played much better than that during the playoffs with some evaluations saying a top 10 ranking. If Morris plays this year's defense like he did in the playoffs, this will be a top 10 ranked defense, i.e. good enough for another SB run.

Dare I say it? TWO CONSECUTIVE LOMBARDI TROPHIES!!!

 

[WarnerToBruce]

The media:

Build em up
Tear em down
Build em up
Tear em down

Rinse, repeat

This is true about Americans in general, and maybe even the entire human race but don't quote me on that...

 

[dang]

Personally, I think McVay and Morris did a fine job in coaching the Super Bowl. Breakdowns of the play show how the Bengals had to resort to cheating to stay in the game. Much of the struggles with both the passing and run attack were due to obvious uncalled holding and PI.

McVay adjusted his offense, something he simply isn't known for, to his depleted offense. In the end, he resorted to the one receiver the Bengals could not stop, except by committing holding or PI. Those errors in the red zone by the Bungles were the results. More than one WR has said that in the red zone you cannot lay hands on a WR as the Bungles did without getting called. They all know that but did it anyway because they were desperate. They were outmatched and they knew it. So all the complaining about the refs was set up by McVay.

There is no doubt in my mind had Morris played the defense all season as he did in the playoffs this team would have been the #1 seed, but ultimately it all worked out. Morris is going to be the DC next season so I hope he learned his lesson about staying in a soft zone.

I'm stoked about next season. I see Harris taking OBJ's spot until he can return, probably late in the year. Both Blanton and Hopkins looked like they had their breakout behind Higbee. So combined with Woods the offense looks in good shape. IMO Whitworth is waiting to retire based upon the Rams being able to come to terms with Noteboom. I'm confident they will and he will be a worthy successor to Whit. I see Allen returning, but both OG spots are up for grabs though Corbett is a serviceable starter. Shelton really needs to step into that second OG spot as a bridge.

Their assessment of Alaric will determine whether or not Havenstein stays. I'm sorry but 7 regular season and 2 post season sacks blows a hole in the opinion he's a good RT.

If they can lock down Miller the Rams will have another year with one of the best DLs in the league. AD 15 sacks, Von Miller 9 sacks and Leonard Floyd with 12 sacks is testimony to why LA doesn't need to blitz. They threaten it to single up the blocking by the OL but most of the time they back off. With Jones, Howard (assuming the re-sign him) and Hollins they are fine at LB. I see Rochell replacing Williams and the Rams playing Burgess more this year. With Rapp, Fuller, and Burgess they have their nickel. Rapp as their in the box SS with Burgess and Fuller in Morris' shell.

Robinson proved when he wants to he can be the answer to plugging the middle along with Gaines. Gaines is the starter with Robinson rotating in on run downs. With the two of them, short-yardage was no gimme for the opposition. Robinson showed he's everything SJD isn't.

Because of Morris' soft defense the Ram defense finished the regular season ranked 20-21 but played much better than that during the playoffs with some evaluations saying a top 10 ranking. If Morris plays this year's defense like he did in the playoffs, this will be a top 10 ranked defense, i.e. good enough for another SB run.

Dare I say it? TWO CONSECUTIVE LOMBARDI TROPHIES!!!

So we all agree the defense was frustrating at times throughout the season (e.g. soft). But are you saying you were wrong in going so far as calling for Morris’s head?

 

[RamFan503]

I almost broke my leg the other day. But I didn't so....

 

[Angry Ram]

I agree... FIRE HIS A$$! And Morris, and Havenstein too. blue font

I'm not even gonna watch the video... the guy wins a super bowl and it still getting criticized. SMH

PS - nothing against Sacram... probably a good video... just not for me.

You should, it's actually a really good video and breaks down what went wrong after OBJs injury to how he adjusted on the game winning drive.

Click bait headline for sure though.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

How many times does McVay need to see the same blocking scheme shut down his zone running scheme without having an alternate running strategy in the ready?

 

[Tano]

I agree... FIRE HIS A$$! And Morris, and Havenstein too. blue font

I'm not even gonna watch the video... the guy wins a super bowl and it still getting criticized. SMH

PS - nothing against Sacram... probably a good video... just not for me.

He actually never said McVay almost lost the Superbowl.

He stated that McVay never ran gap plays in the Superbowl and was criticizing him for that.

But otherwise, he states, McVay changed up his playbook with 6 minutes to go and that's why the Rams won when his original game plan wasn't working once OBJ went down.

 

[Tano]

On the other hand, there have been breakdowns showing that the refs almost cost the Rams the game. They weren't calling PI and holding calls on the Bengals which were occurring on multiple passing plays. The most egregious being the face mask on Higgins resulting in a TD. All TDs need to be reviewed yet they let it stand. That is why IMO NY told them they needed to tighten up and why they did so on that final drive.

Had they been officiating correctly the entire game it wouldn't have been close. The Rams would have won going away even with all the injuries. Had the Rams been at full strength with Woods, OBJ, and Higbee they would have blown the Bengals out even with the outrageously bad officiating.

The bottom line is that the Rams won and its all history now. That win cemented so many careers. Stafford, Donald, Whitworth, Ramsey, and Kupp as well as Miller (who was HOF regardless) as probably all first-round HOF inductees. How many teams in SB history has the winner had that many HOF players on one team. I included Kupp because IMO he will keep playing at this level and will have a HOF worthy career. That's why this Rams team will probably go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Kudos to Snead and McVay both of whom might also make the HOF.

If OBJ didn't get hurt, we blow the Bengals away.

They weren't stopping us for the most part in the first half.

 

[BuffaloRam]

I almost broke my leg the other day. But I didn't so....

I did break it the other day but fuck it - bones heal! And I had 2 weeks off work to recover during the SB!!

 

[oldnotdead]

So we all agree the defense was frustrating at times throughout the season (e.g. soft). But are you saying you were wrong in going so far as calling for Morris’s head?

Your kidding right? You answered your own question. During the season IMO he was the reason games were lost while he played his soft zone almost exclusively. IMO pressure from McVay and the FO was why he changed. If he returns to his soft defenses then I will again (legitimately so) call for his job.

MORRIS SHOULD NEVER HAD TO HAVE BEEN TOLD HIS SCHEME WASN'T WORKING. HIS PIGHEADED PRIDE WOULD NOT ALLOW HIM TO SEE THE OBVIOUS. IF HE HAS LEARNED FROM THIS AND WILL GO FORWARD IN THIS MANNER THEN I'M OKAY WITH IT. HOW MORRIS ENDED THE SEASON IS WHAT I EXPECTED FROM HIM FROM DAY ONE. TAKING A TOP 10 DEFENSE AND DROPPING IT TO 21ST IN THE NFL DURING THE REGULAR SEASON VALIDATES ALL I'VE SAID ABOUT HIM. IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THAT LACKADAISICAL DEFENSE FINE BUT I FOR ONE AM NOT. I'VE ALSO CALLED OUT MCVAY FOR NOT BE ABLE TO ADJUST AND I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS SEEN IT WITH HIS POOR SB PERFORMANCE IN 2018 BEING THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF IT. BUT HE ALSO LEARNED FROM THAT EXPERIENCE AND IT'S WHY THEY WON THIS YEAR.

If someone I criticize does something right, I'm not so prideful that I won't give them deserved praise in the same way if they FU I will point that out too.

 

[Merlin]

How many times does McVay need to see the same blocking scheme shut down his zone running scheme without having an alternate running strategy in the ready?

I think it was the physical matchups. This line lost to the physical fronts in their first games this year. Then would make adjustments for the follow-on game/s and handle things better.

Where they improved a ton through the season was in stunt/twist pickups first off. But overall they didn't have a lot of room for error vs the bigger and more physical fronts. Cincy was extremely physical and beat us up front. We only won that game because of McVay's patience in sticking with the run until that defensive front was somewhat tired.

Going forward I think we need to be better up front. I'm sure the Rams agree with that but their answer on how to do it is probably gonna be different once again. I do trust them btw, obviously they deserve that. But there's a lot at stake here and it might require some boldness to get the unit they want.

 

[dang]

Your kidding right? You answered your own question. During the season IMO he was the reason games were lost while he played his soft zone almost exclusively. IMO pressure from McVay and the FO was why he changed. If he returns to his soft defenses then I will again (legitimately so) call for his job.

MORRIS SHOULD NEVER HAD TO HAVE BEEN TOLD HIS SCHEME WASN'T WORKING. HIS PIGHEADED PRIDE WOULD NOT ALLOW HIM TO SEE THE OBVIOUS. IF HE HAS LEARNED FROM THIS AND WILL GO FORWARD IN THIS MANNER THEN I'M OKAY WITH IT. HOW MORRIS ENDED THE SEASON IS WHAT I EXPECTED FROM HIM FROM DAY ONE. TAKING A TOP 10 DEFENSE AND DROPPING IT TO 21ST IN THE NFL DURING THE REGULAR SEASON VALIDATES ALL I'VE SAID ABOUT HIM. IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THAT LACKADAISICAL DEFENSE FINE BUT I FOR ONE AM NOT. I'VE ALSO CALLED OUT MCVAY FOR NOT BE ABLE TO ADJUST AND I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS SEEN IT WITH HIS POOR SB PERFORMANCE IN 2018 BEING THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF IT. BUT HE ALSO LEARNED FROM THAT EXPERIENCE AND IT'S WHY THEY WON THIS YEAR.

If someone I criticize does something right, I'm not so prideful that I won't give them deserved praise in the same way if they FU I will point that out too.

First I want to express my appreciation for your in depth analysis. You obviously take time observing/commenting.
However your approach to calling for coaches/players jobs comes across a bit high and mighty. Also You do it so often loses its effect (SJD, Havenstein, Morris, Rapp, etc ).
Maybe relax a bit. New players/ new coach take time to gel.
Most on this forum would agree the defense was underwhelming (to put it lightly) but it was a bit much to call for Morris ‘s head EVERY game the defense didn’t perform well.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I think it was the physical matchups. This line lost to the physical fronts in their first games this year. Then would make adjustments for the follow-on game/s and handle things better.

Where they improved a ton through the season was in stunt/twist pickups first off. But overall they didn't have a lot of room for error vs the bigger and more physical fronts. Cincy was extremely physical and beat us up front. We only won that game because of McVay's patience in sticking with the run until that defensive front was somewhat tired.

Going forward I think we need to be better up front. I'm sure the Rams agree with that but their answer on how to do it is probably gonna be different once again. I do trust them btw, obviously they deserve that. But there's a lot at stake here and it might require some boldness to get the unit they want.

It literally was the same technique the Patriots used against the Rams in 2018. Maybe its just the price to pay for being more lease blocking oriented. It all seems off though. There were times in 2020 that the Rams run blocking was working very well. Every team that can pull it off, knows how to attack this front. They need some answers imo.

 

[Wisconsinram]

Oldnotdead, singing out Hav is a stretch. Watch other competitive teams. He's a top RT given the price. A few plays (i.e. sacks) doesn't tell the whole story. He's an asset and we won the SB!