It was the early summer of 2021 in the dreamy haze of California’s central coast when Matthew Stafford understood for certain that Sean McVay was a little bit nuts.
He, the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, and Stafford, the quarterback for whom McVay had urged the team to trade a few months prior, met at a vineyard near Santa Barbara with their wives. “Had some wine, thought we were just gonna hang out,” Stafford said. “Then he pulls a piece of paper out.
It was full of hand-drawn concepts outlining an idea McVay had about how to incorporate certain types of plays into an offense he, Stafford and then-offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell were reimagining upon Stafford’s arrival in L.A. Stafford stared at the paper, and at McVay, for a moment. “Yeah, sure. I’ll learn it. Let’s go.
“It’s good to be careful who you drink wine with,” Stafford added this December, laughing about the memory. The Rams ran that particular package of plays, he estimates, “like 75 times” in 2021 and Stafford threw for over 1,200 of his 4,886-yard total out of it. “We still use it,” McVay added, “we just dress it up differently now.”
Two years and a Super Bowl later, the coach and quarterback have re-invented the Rams’ offense a second time. Both of them needed to begin again: McVay’s offense lacked balance in an injury-laden 2022 and so did he. Stafford exited the season after just nine games after suffering a spinal cord contusion, watching from the sideline as the Rams imploded and speculation swirled about his possible retirement or even a trade.
