Sean McVay Details Meticulous Playoff Preparation

In the NFL, games are won and lost long before the players take the field. Rams HC Sean McVay revealed some of his thoughts about preparing for Philadelphia

Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay before the NFC wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Football is a game. The NFL is a classroom. This league is not the high-flying, deep-passing, jaw-dropping game that is college football. The NFL is a chess match that requires detailed preparation, intense study habits, and the physicality that transforms players into puppet masters, manipulating the opposition into employing a losing strategy.

Back in the 1993 NFC Championship Game, Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson took time to walk the field at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Due to rain in the area, Johnson noticed part of the field wasn't suited to play on, thus Johnson informed his team of the conditions and their gameplan shifted to avoid the area. Such detail helped secure a 30-20 victory and eventually a win in Super Bowl XXVII.

Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke about such preparation, attention to detail, and dealing with the elements on Thursday when asked about his team's plan to deal with the expected precipitation in Philadelphia. McVay went on to say

"I would say this, the weather has changed in the last couple of days. We'll see what it is, but we are aware of that. I think the biggest thing is just being mindful of… if the surface is affected, that our cleats aren't an issue. That's a big part of it. [Senior Director of Equipment] Brendan Burger does a great job with that. Matthew [Stafford] has had experience handling that ball. I know this, if it does snow or if it does rain, we have to be mindful of what we need to do to adjust and adapt, but there’s no way it can be as cold as it was at the Jets game."

Field conditions play such a massive factor in deciding football games, something the Eagles know all too well. In Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles and the Chiefs were playing on a slippery surface in Arizona that neutralized Philadelphia's dominant pass rush. Perhaps knowing those conditions beforehand was the detail that could've given the Eagles another championship.

Regardless, the fact that McVay and staff have already had discussions about it proves that there's so much more that goes into winning in the NFL beyond Xs and Os. It is the attention committed to everything that can grant coaches anything they desire.

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