Kupp's challenge of Coach McVay's 'Hero or hypocrite' turned Rams around in 2023

You may think that the LA Rams had it all sorted out in 2023;. It was a team that was helplessly sinking after a 5-12 record in 2022 to fall to 3-6 in the first nine games of the 2023 NFL season. That slide after winning Super Bowl LVI in 2021 was a touch thing to stomach for HC Sean McVay. What should he do? What could he do? His team was stuck in the quagmire of an 8-18 tailspin, and all of the rhetoric and leadership to that point simply failed to pull the nose up

Had he been in a vacuum, perhaps nothing would change for the better. But there is the leadership on this roster that recognizes pivotal moments during the game, and during the season. That is when veterans can truly make their presence felt, when a pivotal moment arrives and a player reminds the team's head coach that leaders lead.

And for HC Sean McVay, that is all that was needed.

Listen to how WR Cooper Kupp relates the tale of how he approached Coach McVay at the Week 10 BYE, and reminded him of what the team was chasing last season.

The best part of the story is how well it worked. The team emerged from the BYE and was arguably the hottest team in the NFL, winning seven of eight games and the only loss was on the road on the East Coast in a downpour, and lost in overtime.

And the team went on the road in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs and lost by just one point to the Detroit Lions.

Veterans add more to the team than on-field production. Having 'been there, done that,' over years of NFL competition, they recognize and act at pivotal moments during a game, and during the season, to ensure that young teammates keep everything in perspective. Not only in speaking up, but in taking action.

Only a handful of players can challenge HC Sean McVay, and clearly, Cooper Kupp is one of those players. He has earned the right to do so and only exercises that right when he knows it is necessary to do so. That is why I am growing ever more optimistic about this team's chances in 2024. The team has its house in order and its priorities set. All that is left to do is execute the plan.

And that is already underway.

Thanks for reading.