There is an unsurprising commonality among nearly all five of the winningest teams over the last five years: they’ve had Hall of Fame quarterbacks. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes; the Patriots had Tom Brady; the Saints had Drew Brees; the Packers have Aaron Rodgers.
The exception is the Rams. Sean McVay is a Super Bowl-winning offensive genius who’s dominated the league without an all-time great under center. Matthew Stafford has compiled inflated passing stats, but as Richard Sherman reminds us, lacks a true Hall of Fame resume. He’s never been an All-Pro or MVP, and only made one Pro Bowl.
McVay also made it to the Super Bowl with Jared Goff, who absolutely sucks.
Step aside, Bill: we have a new king of the NFL.
There was some chatter last month that Andy Reid was on the cusp of surpassing Bill Belichick, but then the Chiefs choked away the AFC Championship to Cincinnati. Winning one Super Bowl with Mahomes is an underachievement.
The Rams have never underachieved with McVay. He took over a four-win team and made the playoffs in his first season. The Rams have gone 55-26 over the last half-decade and 7-3 in the playoffs, including two Super Bowl appearances and one win.
The Patriots have gone 53-28 over that stretch with a 5-3 postseason record, to go along with their two Super Bowl appearances and one win.
But of course, Belichick’s Super Bowl success only came with Brady. The Patriots have gone 21-22 since Halloween 2019. McVay’s system is seemingly successful anywhere.
Though he’s only been a head coach for five years, McVay already boasts one of the best coaching trees in the NFL. Zac Taylor led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in his third year, and Matt LaFleur has won 13 games in each of his first three seasons in Green Bay. That’s an NFL record. Brandon Staley has compiled winning records in both of his seasons with the Chargers, who narrowly missed out on the playoffs.
The Vikings are hoping Kevin O’Connell, who served as McVay’s for two seasons, follows that trend. The odds are in their favor.
We spend a lot of time focusing on how Belichick must remake his coaching staff, but so does McVay, and the Rams are better built to absorb losses. Already, McVay has run through three defensive coordinators and several important offensive assistants — LeFleur, Taylor, Shane Waldron, Jedd Fisch and now O’Connell. There is a clear system of succession in place.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are so lost, they might hand over the offense to Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.
Winning 10 games with a rookie quarterback is no small feat, but Josh McDaniels seemingly designed the offense last season. The Patriots are in uncharted territory with no Brady or McDaniels.
Belichick’s longevity makes him the greatest ever. While most coaches probably would’ve won a Super Bowl or two with Brady, it takes a special coach to win six. McVay has a long way to go. His ambiguity about whether he wants to come back next season serves as a reminder of just how taxing it is to coach an NFL team.
He may not make it to 40, never mind 70.
It’s true that Belichick outcoached McVay in Super Bowl LIII, when the young coach infamously spent his pregame showering Belichick with compliments. But McVay was better this time around.
Down Odell Beckham Jr., the Rams came up with a way to get their offense going in the fourth quarter. They received an assist from the referees, but few Super Bowl teams succeed without zebra-colored gifts.
They just made a 30 for 30 on the tuck rule.
McVay’s first five years as a head coach are among the best in league history. Right now, Belichick is the one looking up at him.