Stafford may refresh McVay’s career, but not in a way you think

Burn out

To understand the dynamics of Sean McVay, we must return to the parent analogy. Parents who are blessed with a second child find that the pendulum swings to the other extreme. They have learned that any effort to deny nature’s learning algorithm is futile, so they become less intense and much more laid back. Parents of two parents no longer sweat the small stuff. Rather it all gets rolled up under the catch-all category of ‘that’s life!’

Stafford’s arrival will create the same mellowing effect for McVay. Now with his second starter, McVay will learn that sometimes defenses guess correctly. It’s not a fault of a player, but simply the way the game falls sometimes.

That’s good news for the Rams, but even better news for head coach Sean McVay. His grip on the offense has tightened over the years, to the point where he has said farewell to a number of positional coaches and coordinators. While many have found promotions elsewhere, there clearly was something at work to incentivize them to pick up the phone and listen.

Will Stafford’s arrival fix everything? No. Will Stafford’s arrival have immediate results? No again.  But where Jared Goff was a toddler, Stafford is in his NFL late-teens. He will take ownership and accountability, but will not hesitate to push back too. The McVay monologue will become the McVay-Stafford dialogue. And right now, that is exactly what head coach Sean McVay needs.

Former LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff never got past the training wheels on the offense.  Newly acquired quarterback Matthew Stafford will ask for the keys to the offense at some point this year. And McVay will likely hand them over. No, I’m not asserting that Stafford will call his own plays. Simply that Stafford will have opinions as to how to better set up the offense to move the chains and score points.

McVay loves collaboration. Stafford will bring that. Was Mcvay on the road to burnout? Well, in a one-sided conversation, it was much more likely.  Now, with Stafford adding a voice to the Rams offense development, that eases a bit of pressure off McVay’s shoulders.

It’s now McVay’s second chapter. While the team is clearly ‘all in’ now, the pressure may be off. Matthew Stafford has proven that he can move the chains and score points even when the offense is not set up perfectly.  McVay’s blood pressure may be lowered, but look for the offense to score more points.