{"id":38439,"date":"2023-09-12T11:29:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T15:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=38439"},"modified":"2023-09-12T11:30:15","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T15:30:15","slug":"the-break-out-sean-mcvay-and-matthew-stafford-committed-to-their-brand-new-roles-are-doing-things-theyve-never-done-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2023\/09\/12\/the-break-out-sean-mcvay-and-matthew-stafford-committed-to-their-brand-new-roles-are-doing-things-theyve-never-done-before\/","title":{"rendered":"The Break Out: Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, committed to their brand new roles, are doing things they\u2019ve never done before"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez-USA Today Sports)<\/em><\/p>\n

Lost in their astonishing youth and historic post-championship regression; the Los Angeles Rams still have one of the best Head Coach-Quarterback duos in the NFL (the Seahawks will tell you.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By Sam Robb O’Hagan<\/em><\/p>\n

There were so many reasons for concern with the Los Angeles Rams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

14 rookies. 10 more players with less than three NFL seasons of experience. The delayed return of All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp. And a post-Super Bowl hangover so bad that, at the turn of the new year, the franchise\u2019s best player was probably closer to leaving than coming back.<\/span><\/p>\n

But lost in the overwhelming red flags were Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, and the partnership between head coach and quarterback that brought Super Bowl pedigree to a team full of kids.<\/span><\/p>\n

How that pedigree glistened on Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rams gained 446 yards of total offense. They held the ball for over 39 minutes. They were 11-17 on third down, and scored three touchdowns on three trips to the red zone. Stafford wasn\u2019t sacked. And the Rams won by 17 points against a playoff contender on the road in one of the loudest stadiums in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, McVay and Stafford have been here before, in case you had forgotten. But the story on Sunday were the Rams that hadn\u2019t been here before \u2014 the Tutu Atwell\u2019s and the Puka Nacua\u2019s, the Kyren Williams\u2019 and the Byron Young\u2019s \u2014 and how quickly the adults in the room got them prepared.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was truly remarkable, the magnitude of the performances from players with so little to hang their hats on. Atwell, a 165-pound receiver with 298 career receiving yards coming in, caught six passes for 119 yards. Nacua, a rookie fifth-round pick, caught ten for the same. Williams, a second-year running back with 35 rookie-season carries, ran for two touchdowns.<\/span><\/p>\n

These were veteran outings from players that were little more than theory 24 hours earlier. Atwell dominated the middle of the field \u2014 as one of the smallest players in NFL history, mind you \u2014 and delivered a critical explosive play on third and long to set up a go-ahead touchdown. Nacua was mind-numbingly efficient in the quick game, keeping the upstart Rams\u2019 offense on the field again and again and again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And no one looked the least bit surprised about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of these guys, but I\u2019m not surprised,\u201d McVay said. \u201cThat\u2019s what Atwell had been doing, going months back. Nacua has come in and he\u2019s as mature a rookie as I\u2019ve ever been around.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With Kupp on the sidelines, perhaps the league\u2019s best over the middle of the field and most efficient in the quick game, Atwell and Nacua stepped in and stepped up. It looked like the Rams of old.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this <\/span>wasn\u2019t <\/span><\/i>the Rams of old. It couldn\u2019t have been further from it. Only 10 key players from the Rams\u2019 Super Bowl victory remain in Los Angeles. About the only constant between then and now is, of course, the head coach and the quarterback.<\/span><\/p>\n

But McVay and Stafford, Super Bowl Champions less than two calendar years ago, are in uncharted territory. So uncharted, so presumably uncomfortable, that McVay openly considered walking away. And so full of red flags that few gave either of them, both among the best at what they do, a chance to succeed in this sudden, impossibly different situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday, McVay and Stafford looked like themselves. Under these circumstances, remaining the same is an evolution in itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

McVay built his resume scheming open Kupp, Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, and Odell Beckham Jr. He earned his wings with a dynamite rushing attack that featured Todd Gurley. His offensive lines featured sound NFL veterans like Andrew Whitworth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Atwell, Nacua, and Williams are a different challenge. But McVay was still McVay. The rushing attack created open holes for its inexperienced runners all game long, specifically near the goal line. Receivers were open at the right place and right time. The third down play calling was near flawless. And the Rams\u2019 offense churned and churned.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was classic McVay \u2014 a unit with the look of one that had done this before, that was battle-tested and resilient, that knew which buttons to press. All but two of them did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the two that did know were at their best. McVay was slick and timely. Stafford was herculean.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was his 21-yard pass to Nacua on a critical third down halfway through the fourth quarter that confirmed what Stafford had been proving all day long. It\u2019s a tightly-covered, long-developing corner route \u2014 what those in the industry call a \u201cbig boy throw.\u201d The timing has to be perfect. The accuracy, precise. The confidence it all requires should not be lost, either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And just look at the <\/span>ball Stafford delivers.<\/span><\/a> The adjusted release to withstand pressure. The anticipation to trust his receiver will come open. And the ball placement that only Nacua could reach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, what a throw to Puka Nacua on the right sideline,\u201d McVay said. \u201c[Stafford] sat in there and delivered it. He played like the guy we all know and love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe elevates everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Per <\/span>nfelo<\/span><\/a>, Stafford added 21.5 expected points on Sunday, second most in the entire league behind only Tua Tagovailoa. That\u2019s (<\/span>more than) <\/span><\/i>three touchdowns worth of inspired quarterback play.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stafford is a top quarterback, a Super Bowl winning quarterback, but above all, Stafford is a gamer. He\u2019ll try things that few others would. And when he tries them, he\u2019ll get the results that even fewer <\/span>could<\/span><\/i>. And he was the difference on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

For McVay and his quarterback, it was a near flawless beginning to what is certain to be a flaw-ridden journey. But what\u2019s most promising about the evolution of the Rams\u2019 central pair is one of the first things McVay said after his dominant upset win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the 18-play drive to start out the game, I made a terrible play call that puts us in a bad situation and that\u2019s on me,\u201d McVay conceded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There he is. The same Sean McVay of old, nit-picking a season-opening touchdown drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rams, in just a 19-month period, have changed just about everything. But their superstar head coach and ruthless quarterback haven\u2019t changed a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez-USA Today Sports) Lost in their astonishing youth and historic post-championship regression; the Los Angeles Rams still have one of the best Head Coach-Quarterback duos in the NFL (the Seahawks will tell you.) By Sam Robb O’Hagan There were so many reasons for concern with the Los Angeles Rams.\u00a0 14 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21477,"featured_media":38440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1024,1050,1035,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38441,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38439\/revisions\/38441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}