Polar Opposites

By Peyton Schultze

Rams’ head coach, Sean McVay, is helping transform the National Football League with each Los Angeles’ win. So can he bring help bring a Lombardi Trophy to LA on Sunday?

Can he help shock the football world once again? And add another impressive win to his ever-growing legacy? Each week, teams try to scheme against him, yet seem to consistently fail all the same with his advanced knowledge and ability to adapt from week to week. As well-prepared as any team in the league, his club seems like they are always functioning and competing on a high level on offense, defense and special teams far above anyone else.

But who are we talking about? You could make the argument for either, but it’s clear that both Bill Belichick and Sean McVay carry these same qualities. While the Patriots have been continuously dominant over the past two decades with the leadership of Belichick, the Rams are a new and upcoming group that seems to be a legit threat for years to come. Since his arrival in 2017, Sean McVay has virtually transformed the Los Angeles Rams from a miserable franchise in despair under Jeff Fisher to an up-and-coming team that could be a mighty threat to take down the Patriots’ reign in the immediate and somewhat distant future. Their time seems to be now for McVay and the young Rams, so can they capture their second Super Bowl in franchise history?

Yet the Patriots were in the same position as the current Rams are just 19 years ago. In 2000, the New England Patriots were simply a mediocre franchise with little success in their history. But in that year, Bill Belichick was hired to become the next head coach of the Patriots. Times have come and gone, but 19 years and 9 Super Bowl appearances later, Belichick and the Patriots are readying up for another shot at a sixth championship, while McVay prepares the Rams for the biggest game of his so-far short coaching career.

Will Belichick be able to come up with another outstanding game plan to foil the Rams on Super Bowl Sunday?

A rarity in most championship sporting events, one of the most fascinating matchups in Super Bowl LIII will be the battle between two of the best coaches in the league. While Belichick has been doing it for years as stated, McVay is just getting used to the pressure of being a head coach in the National Football League. Yet after two great seasons with a previously mediocre franchise, McVay is being widely regarded as one of the best head coaches in the league, especially for his young age. Which makes this matchup all the more compelling. One is a guaranteed lock for the Hall of Fame. One seems to already be on his way towards becoming one of the best coaches in the league. One is viewed as a curmudgeon in the media. One is a flashy new coach that everyone seems to love. Even the cities in which they coach are completely different; after all, cold and brisk Bostonians do not typically speak fondly of the sunny and bright City of Angels.

But what makes this matchup so intriguing, even with their different personalities, is how similar both coaches truly are. Sure McVay and the Rams are much more likeable than the often-irritated Belichick and the Patriots, but both teams focus on one thing about everything else: doing your job every game and executing to perfection.

The Rams and Patriots are both certainly among the most disciplined teams in the league, which truly speaks to how much these teams are a representation of their coaches. While both teams have large characters and personalities on both sides of the ball, they have largely been able to keep them at bay by controlling their emotions. This has always been a trait of New England; but are the Rams slowly adopting The Patriot Way becoming the next upcoming football team in the league?

After an upset win in the NFC Championship over the Saints, can Sean McVay lead the Rams to another upset over the Patriots?

Heading into Super Bowl Sunday, there are so many misconceptions floating around about both organizations. Many often say that the Patriots win single handedly because of Brady. Or that the Rams are just a flashy team. Even that both teams are here by mistake after questionable calls in both title games. These could not be more incorrect. Sure the Patriots need Brady to perform at a high level in big games. And the Rams do have some fancy trick plays that have often made teams look foolish. But make no mistake about it; these teams are not here by accident.

In fact, the reason that the Los Angeles Rams will meet up with the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon is because of both teams’ sheer commitment to excellence and fundamentals in all games. Now in both organizations, anything short of excellence will have heads spinning around the league which both teams have managed extremely well this season through their rough stretches. But what really brings both teams to Atlanta is the ability to simply outthink opposing teams by sticking to the basics and not overthinking the game too much. Sure McVay is a bona fide genius offensively and creates some great plays to generate big yardage. But a lot of these calls are built off fundamental football, incorporating a simple screen game and basic stretch runs to compliment a deadly play-action passing game. This, at its core, is simply Belichick-ian. Throughout the Patriots’ dynastic run over the past 19 years, Belichick has often taught basic football fundamentals to win game after game. Just look at the early years of their run before Brady was considered elite; the Patriots simply ran with a strong power running game to control time of possession and fed off their great defenses of the early 2000’s to dominate the league and form a foundation for years to come.

On Sunday, Brady and Belichick hope to once again add to their illustrious Super Bowl collection with a sixth championship.

But while the current Rams slightly resemble the early Patriot teams, the Patriots do own the key advantage of having the experienced Belichick appear in another Super Bowl. Although Belichick is a pure football mastermind and probably the greatest coach in the history of the modern NFL, what has made him so great in the late stages of his career has been his adaptability in all situations. From week to week, teams have no idea what they will be getting with New England. Yet Belichick always finds a way to confuse the opposition with something they were not expecting to see. For example, look no further than the AFC Championship Game. Although the young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had a season for the ages, Belichick often blitzed him up the middle and up in his face to force quick and short throws. But Kansas City was somewhat taken aback by this (at least in their sloppy first half), which again showed Belichick at his best. His ability to consistently adapt every week and even every quarter is what makes him one of the NFL’s great coaches of all-time and has once again propelled New England to where they currently stand: once again in the Super Bowl reckoning for a sixth championship.

But while Sean McVay is even younger than even the current Patriots’ starting quarterback, he has also shown an ability similar to Belichick over his first two seasons. Again, look no further than the Rams’ NFC Championship Game appearance. The Rams were terrible in the first half; Goff was a little off and Todd Gurley was a non-factor. But in the second half, McVay was able to make adjustments on the fly to help the Rams get back in the game. With a bit of tempo to go with quicker throws from Goff and some deep shots on the outside to Brandin Cooks, the Rams crawled back into the game against a somewhat weary (and certainly annoyed) Saints’ defense. Although the Rams needed a bit of luck on their side, McVay also showed this unique trait in the second half to lead the Rams into Super Bowl LIII.

Do the Rams have the makings of football’s next great dynasty?

Not all coaches in the league have it, but McVay and Belichick not only share an appreciation for the history of the game of football, but an unquestioned desire to outwork an opposing team’s staff. It’s been on display in McVay’s first two seasons with his fiery and child-like passion on the sidelines and it’s been always on display in the great and constantly thinking mind of Belichick as he lumbers along the Patriots’ sideline each week. This weekend should be a true chess match between football’s greatest veteran coach and youngest mind under the bright lights of Super Bowl LIII. And with each media question each will be asked about their differing ages, only one thing comes to mind: winning never gets old, no matter what the age.