A friendly reminder, fellow San Diegans, before I check on the Rams of coach Sean McVay two-and-a-half years since they won the Super Bowl.
Please recall what a former San Diego Chargers exec said about the milquetoast Spanoses ever hiring someone as bright and pushy as McVay.
“I just don’t know that a guy like Sean McVay would fit with what their vision is for the coach,” Randy Mueller, a former Dolphins and Saints general manager who was the Chargers’ senior executive for football operations from 2008-18, said on The Athletic Football Podcast last year. “They’re more of an ‘assistant, kind of box-him-in, stay-in-your-lane type,’ instead of just letting him run with it.”
Get that?
McVay would’ve been too pushy for Dean Spanos and his son John Spanos to dare hire.
He wouldn’t fit their straight-jacketed vision. The Spanoses hire only coaches they can control.
Signing the hyper, detailed McVay seven years ago worked out for Rams owner Stan Kroenke and his top football execs Les Snead and Kevin Demoff.
The next five years brought two NFC titles and the only Super Bowl trophy for the Los Angeles Rams. Those teams won 68 percent of their games.
And now?
Blunting their own good work, the Rams made too many mistakes Sunday late in the game, resulting in a 37-31 loss to the AFC-leading Ravens in wet Baltimore.
But here’s the rub: two years into a steep rebuild caused by mortgaging large chunks of the future — moves that led to the Super Bowl victory — McVay’s program has surprised many football experts by ranking in the NFL’s top half in scoring on both offense and defense.
As a 7.5-point underdog, the Rams took the Ravens (10-3) into overtime in Baltimore despite losing their starting right tackle Rob Havenstein and No. 2 tight end Hunter Long, who started for the injured Tyler Higbee.
The Rams (6-7) could be in the playoff hunt as soon as next year.
Creating the steep rebuild, the Rams issued huge contracts to deserving stars and traded so many premiums picks that it’s been since 2017 that they made a first-round selection.
By mining gold in middle rounds of recent drafts, Snead and McVay have accelerated the turnaround.
Running back Kyren Williams, a 5-foot-9, 194-pounder from Notre Dame, has rushed for 100-plus yards in four games this year. He went for 114 on 25 carries (4.6) against the Ravens.
Rookie receiver Puka Nacua added 84 receiving yards to his season total, now over 1,100 yards. Atoning for a drop, the BYU alum made a difficult diving catch, leading to a go-ahead TD.
Both Williams and Nacua went in a fifth round.
Tight end Davis Allen, a Clemson alum taken two spots ahead of Nacua, replaced Long and caught his first touchdown pass to move the Rams ahead, 17-14.
Starting with a surprising “downhill” ground attack that churned nine consecutive rushes on the first drive, McVay’s offense outplayed a Ravens defense that led the NFL in fewest points allowed (15.6).
Quarterback Matthew Stafford, slinging and lobbing strikes from various angles, maintained his resurgence from injuries that limited him to nine games last year. Completions worth 20-plus yards went to Cooper Kupp, Nacua, Allen and Demarcus Robinson.
So with the Rams gaining the most yards (410) allowed by the Ravens and playing just the third turnover-free game against Baltimore, the McVay magic still exits, notwithstanding late-game time-management issues that also ultimately fell McVaey, who is also the playcaller.
Bottom line: the Rams are having a successful rebuilding season, one in which 10 drafted rookie have appeared in more than half of their games.
And get this: they hold a first-round pick in the next draft.
