Looks like LA Rams HC Sean McVay is in it for the long haul

The long and winding road

The Rams rapid rise to among the top of the NFL standings have not come without a cost. Like a space mission destined to set foot on the lunar surface, the LA Rams organization has been a series of booster stages. Each stage has pushed the Rams higher and higher, but at the end of their usefulness to the Rams organization, coaches and players have jettisoned from the main space craft along the way.

The main propulsion for the LA Rams quest for success is the indomitable drive of head coach Sean McVay. That never-say-die drive has enabled McVay to knock down almost any barrier. He even lobbied LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke to up the ante in the trade package that ultimately succeeded in prying veteran QB Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions.

But now, the mission has succeeded and is over. The Rams hoisted a Lombardi Trophy for the city of Los Angeles, California. In the process, the players on the Rams' roster became among the highest-paid players in their position in the NFL. Rams positional coaches and coordinators became hot commodities. And the Rams, exhausted and all partied out, had to slap together a new coaching staff and roster and go out and do it all over again.

Rams running on empty

But they couldn't. The Rams were battered, listless, lacking the ability to adopt to the new NFL season or to stay healthy long enough to matter. It was a team that was running on fumes, a runner that was pushing ahead on auto-pilot. The Rams did not lose their competitive drive. It was something far worse. The Rams had pushed it all to win Super Bowl LVI. When the 2022 NFL season arrived, the Rams simply had nothing left in the tank.

It was difficult for the Rams to comprehend what was happening. This was all new for the team, the coaches, and the players. And the constant drive to compete and win at all aspects of the game as it unfolded simply accelerated the team's downfall.

Patience was needed. This was a team with alarms and klaxons going off across the control panel. But the Rams pushed on, flipped to predictable patterns, and as the team began to submerge, the Rams' own propulsion system sped the team to one loss after another. It was not until the Rams signed FA QB Baker Mayfield that the spell broke. When that happened, the Rams slowed down and began to have fun again. But I daresay to suggest that patience is not a strong suit for McVay.