LA’s most winningest head coach has had a historic run during his time in Los Angeles but which stand out?
Since 2017, Sean McVay has won the NFC West as many times as the rest of the division combined, making it’s hard to pick just one season during his time as head coach that stands out above the rest. After a drought of success spanning over a decade from the mid 2000s to 2016, McVay’s arrival to Los Angeles in 2017 coincided with what many would call the best stretch of Rams football in franchise history. After multiple division titles, NFC championships and a Super Bowl ring, which season of the last eight stands out most?
2021: 12-5 record, NFC West division champion, NFC championship, Super Bowl LVI champions
You can’t mention McVay’s success as the Rams head coach without mentioning LA’s Super Bowl run in 2021. The team came into the season as contenders and NFC favorites after their addition of QB Matthew Stafford in the offseason. The veteran quarterback did not disappoint in his first season with the team, throwing for 41 touchdowns and 4,886 yards, many of which went to the NFL’s triple crown winner WR Cooper Kupp. Kupp reset the history books with 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns, leading the NFL in all three categories.
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Los Angeles also added Von Miller to the defensive line to pair with future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald and brought safety Eric Weddle out of retirement for a playoff run straight out of a movie. WR Odell Beckham Jr. was a huge piece to the puzzle added as a midseason free agent signing, especially when starter Robert Woods was lost for the year due to a torn ACL soon after.
LA would go on to finish the season on top, winning Super Bowl LVI, but what really makes this season even sweeter is the fact that Los Angeles had to take down the hated San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship to get into the Super Bowl. It was a victory that for most Rams fans felt almost as good as hoisting the Lombardi trophy two weeks later.
2017: 11-5 record, NFC West division champions
2017 will always standout as one of the best NFL seasons under McVay purely because of the lack of success the franchise faced up until that point. From 2004 until 2016, the team never had a season with more than eight wins, and within that, four of the seasons they finished with three wins or less. The offense was inept under previous head coach Jeff Fisher, so it was shocking to see the Rams offensive explosion in McVay’s first year.
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The Rams would go on to have a top-10 offense led by QB Jared Goff and RB Todd Gurley. Gurley was an absolute workhorse in 2017, carrying the ball 279 times for 1,305 yards and 19 touchdowns in just 15 games. It was the first season that the Rams clinched the NFC West since 2003, and their first playoff berth since 2004.
Success can be traced back to the draft and McVay’s first free agent signings, two of which became cornerstones of the franchise for years to come. First the Rams new coach signed LT Andrew Whitworth, who was cast aside by the Cincinnati Bengals due to his age (he would get his revenge against his former team in the Rams Super Bowl victory). The second signing was WR Robert Woods, who is still a fan favorite of the team even though he is no longer on the roster. This was also the year that the team drafted WR Cooper Kupp, TE Gerald Everett and S John Johnson III.
Unfortunately, the team was knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round after a 26-13 defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, but it was a major sign of things to come as the Rams would make the Super Bowl the following season.
2024: 10-6 record (one game left), NFC West division champions with post-season still to come
This current season has been one of the most rollercoaster-like seasons that Los Angeles has had under McVay, but it’s one of my favorites because it shows the grit and resiliency of a team with an extremely young core. After a 1-4 start that was plague by a ton of injuries, the Rams rallied off nine wins in 11 weeks to earn the NFC West title and their first back-to-back playoff berth since the 2020-2021 seasons.
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Unlike previous years, there’s no huge statistical leader that stands out, which I think shows the total team effort that this year has taken. That said, RB Kyren Williams does deserve some specific mention, as he has been a bell cow back for LA, totaling 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns up to this point. He also became the first Rams running back to have back-to-back 1000 yard seasons since Todd Gurley’s 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The story of 2024, and really 2023 as well, comes down to the Rams ability to score in the NFL draft. The last two seasons LA has drafted standout players at an unbelievable rate. WR Puka Nacua, OL Steve Avila, DL Kobie Turner, OLB Byron Young, S Kam Kitchens, K Josh Karty and WR Jordan Whittington are starters and critical contributors to the Rams recent success. They also drafted OLB Jared Verse and DL Braden Fiske, who are both expected to be at the top of the Defensive Rookie of the Year talks.
It remains to be seen how this year will end with one regular season game to go and all of the playoffs, but even if the season ended today it would go down as one of my favorite of all-time. With so much young talent, it truly has been a master class in coaching by McVay and his staff, especially considering what they have achieved the last two years with rosters made up of mostly first and second-year players at prominent starting positions.
Honorable mention:
2018: 13-3 record, NFC West division champions, NFC championship, Super Bowl LIII appearance
2018 would have gone down as a top three season for me if not for such a sour ending. After being an offensive juggernaut behind RB Todd Gurley’s 1,251 rushing yards, 580 receiving yards and 21 total touchdowns, the Rams were held to just three points in Super Bowl LIII by Bill Belicheck and the New England Patriots defense, losing 13-3.
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McVay became the winningest head coach in franchise history this season, passing John Robinson with his 80th win, and it’s fitting that he would take that title as this has been one of the best, if not the best, eight-year stretch of the Rams. This season’s ending is still unwritten and with a guaranteed spot in the post-season, McVay has a chance to add to his already prolific career.
What is your favorite Rams season under Sean McVay? Comment your answer below!