Ranking 10 best moves during Sean McVay era that helped Rams earn Super Bowl 53 trip

10. McVay hiring Phillips

Shortly after McVay was named the youngest head coach in the NFL during the 2017 offseason, the offensive mastermind decided to name Wade Phillips the new defensive coordinator for the Rams, which was a solid choice.

Throughout his career, Phililps has always received high praise for the work he’s done with players on the defensive side of the football, and what made this seem even more like a steal was the role he played in the years before helping the Denver Broncos put together a top defense.

In a way, Los Angeles was lucky that Denver was going through some head coaching changes of their own at the time, which was the main reason why Phillips happened to be available when McVay was hired.

Things may not have always been smooth for Phillips and the defense during the regular season, but he deserves a ton of credit for the adjustments made leading up to the playoffs to help the unit shine for the most part against the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.

Similar to a few years ago when he helped the Broncos’ defense take down Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, all eyes will be on Phillips to see what kind of game plan he puts together on defense when facing one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game in Tom Brady.