Defensive coordinators basically admitted Sean McVay breaks their brains

Los Angeles Rams fans have overwhelming respect and appreciation for head coach Sean McVay. And why shouldn’t they? He’s led the team to the playoffs in six of his eight seasons, reached the Super Bowl twice, and won it once. He’s done all of this without stacked defenses, dominating rushing attacks, or the luxury of an unusually healthy roster.

But what about his peers? How do NFL defensive coordinators feel about McVay? After all, he’s the offensive mastermind calling plays even when the roster is ravaged by injuries. According to The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen, defensive coordinators recently weighed in on which offensive coaches are the hardest to game-plan against.

It served as a kind of power ranking — a Top 10 list of offensive coaches that defensive coordinators struggle with most. While not a perfect system, the credibility is obvious. This wasn’t shaped by fans or analysts; it came directly from the coaches tasked with stopping them.

Sean McVay earns top spot among NFL’s toughest offensive minds

The Rams’ offense has not been its typical high-octane self lately. Many of the struggles during those stretches came from a less-than-healthy roster. With that said, McVay’s offense still finds ways to move the football and score. That’s why he landed in second place in the rankings. But reading through the text, it’s clear he’s more of a 1B to San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan’s 1A.

Here’s how one NFL defensive coordinator explained it:

"I think he (McVay) can just see it live the best. He has a full Rolodex of plays. He can get to anything on his call sheet, but he can also get to anything in his head. If he needs to adjust in-game, he can completely come up with a new game plan on the spot. So it’s almost to the point now where he’s seen a lot. He has such a good memory of everything, with 12 years of experience calling plays and reacting to stuff. If you’re playing this (defense), he’s going to go to this … and he can do it in a second. That’s weird that he can just adjust so easily."

It’s common knowledge that McVay has instant recall of his plays and can recite them based on down-and-distance prompts from specific games. Now, imagine facing a coach who can instantly access any play from years of playbooks. That’s an overwhelming task when he has thousands of counterpunches for every punch.

Whether that mental edge is enough to push the Rams back into the NFL’s top 10 offenses in 2025 remains to be seen. But one thing feels certain: if Sean McVay can’t get this group back among the league’s best, nobody can. As always, thanks for reading.

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