Los Angeles boasts a few team-building advantages that will be extremely difficult for most NFL teams to match. Plus, what's next for the Bengals, and more.
The Rams are world champs. And we’ve got plenty more on them here …
Joe Burrow: Kareem Elgazzar/USA Today Network; Eric Weddle: Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports; Sean McVay: Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
• From the start of all this a few years back, there have been people within the Rams’ organization that I could tell hated the all-in narrative. And to me, this validates their approach in more ways than one. Obviously, it starts with the fact that it worked, and the trophy they’ve got is the ultimate validation of any team-building approach. Then there’s this: just three Rams (Andrew Whitworth, Rob Havenstein and Aaron Donald) started both Super Bowls LIII and LVI.
That means that if the idea that you’re all-in implies that it’s one group of guys-or-bust, then it doesn’t apply here either. So when I went to Rams COO Kevin Demoff on Sunday night, I was half expecting him to dunk on everyone who’d advanced the pushing-their-chips-in narrative. But he didn’t.
“I think the all-in narrative, it's true,” he said. “I think we're all-in every year, and I remember hearing in 2018 to 2019, we were all-in and our run was over. Our window was closed, and we missed the playoffs in 2019. But these five years what Sean [McVay] and Les [Snead] and this team have put together was pretty special. Les always jokes maybe this was the five-year plan.”
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So is there something the rest of the NFL can take from it and steal? Maybe not. Part of what facilitated it was McVay’s ability to bring different personalities in and meld them together—not everyone can integrate guys like Jalen Ramsey and Odell Beckham Jr. into an already-star-studded locker room. Another part of it is being in L.A., which has become a natural resource for the franchise in attracting veterans to the team.
“It is really hard to assemble a team, and you can't do this without a leader and a culture that brings these people together,” Demoff said. “I think it's not that people want this to fail, right, but it's just a different model that's really hard to replicate if you don't have a Sean McVay, if you don't have Los Angeles, you don't have SoFi Stadium. And, you know I think Stan [Kroenke] has always challenged us, 'I'll give you everything you can to succeed. Go do it.'
“We have so many unique opportunities by being here, by being in this stadium, for what Stan has built, for the resources he's given to us. Maybe not everybody has that, but it proves that good people who can lead through tough times—and we went through it and we dealt with some adversity—find a way to be world champions in the end.”
Now, if you look at the potential coach/player attrition coming, it’s going to be awfully difficult for the Rams to run this one back. Two of their top three receivers will be coming off ACL injuries, and one of those three is a free agent. Retirement rumors are swirling around two pillars of this run. And at least three high-level people from the coaching staff are out the door.
But that’s alright. Because what the Rams did worked. And as for what’s ahead, well, the Rams have been here before.
• One leftover from my talk with McVay after the Super Bowl on Sunday night that I didn’t want to leave on the table.
The last thing I asked the Rams coach was what this one means for him, personally. His answer was really good, and reflects his belief system as a football coach.
“You know what it means? It was really cool, because you find your purpose, because you do it for the people you love and care about so much, these players and these coaches,” McVay said. “And I think that’s what was special about this team. It was more about somebody else than it was about themselves. And I think you saw that with the way this team played and competed.
“That was the most fulfilling thing to me is to be a part of that. You could feel guys wanted it more for someone else other than themselves. That’s why we were able to do what we did.”
And McVay really believed that’s what sustained the team through a winless November.
“What made our team great is we overcame adversity all throughout the playoffs, and in difficult moments,” he continued. “The look in our guys’ eyes, there was a belief, there was a confidence that we could figure it out. And you know what? They delivered again, and that’s what makes this team special, and that’s why they’re world champs.”
• Eric Weddle’s story shouldn’t be lost either. I caught him walking back onto the field, and as we cut through 120 yards of confetti, he dove right into his motivation for trying to pull off something obscene—playing professional football after almost exactly two years away, and doing it by jumping off the couch cold and into the playoffs.
In a month’s time, it went from, Let’s see if this works to Alright, I can play a role to Weddle playing every snap and wearing the green dot, and then playing with a torn pec in the Super Bowl.
“I hope people look at me and understand what my greatness was, right? It was just the challenge, the mindset,” he said, still in full uniform. “No one's gonna do what I did, right? Until otherwise? Come out of retirement and come lead this team and be a big part of it and not just be a guy, I just hope people understand you can do anything with a mindset, that you can accomplish anything. And especially for my kids, my football team.
“And when people outside compare me to other players at my position, there is no comparison. There isn't.”
The funny thing is Weddle wasn’t saying it in a cocky way. He sounded more like a guy who wanted others to push themselves like he did the last month, with the final test being the injury that came on the second series of the game.
“It was on the Mixon pass, the check-down, and I just was out here,” he said pointing to the spot on the field where he took the blow. “I was getting blocked, and I thought he stepped on me. So I was out here and then I fell down, he trucked me, and I thought he stepped on me but it was just like, 'Whoa, I've never felt something like that before.' And then later, hit him again and I was like 'Oh my gosh, this is...' So that's what they said, hopefully it's not.”
He said he already expects to need surgery. “It just depends if it's completely torn off the shoulder or if it's half torn.”
What’s really remarkable? Weddle didn’t miss a single snap because of the injury—he went 61-of-61. Now, he’ll have plenty of time to heal. And if the Rams call again next January?
“The odds of both their safeties being out?” he said, laughing. “No, man, this is once in a lifetime.”
• One other thing that was clear—the respect Weddle had for Joe Burrow taking the hits that he took all night, and playing through what looked like a gnarly knee injury late.
“I was obviously impressed,” Weddle said. “I mean, you don't lead a team to the Super Bowl if you're not all about it, right? And I just love his mentality, I love his moxie, I love him. He's all ball and he's not into the social media B.S. He's not into the limelight. He's not into what everyone else thinks. He just silently goes to work, and it's refreshing to see. And obviously, I mean they're gonna be good for a long time.
“His moment wasn't tonight, but he'll get his moment. You hope he's O.K. But it was just fun to compete at the highest level with these guys. And to see that and try to make life difficult for him as best I could and make him think twice, I think I did that. And he'll be better from this performance for sure.”
• One thing McVay said with emphasis to me Sunday night on Matthew Stafford that was in the morning column—“I think he solidified himself tonight as a Hall of Famer.”
The play, to me, that everyone should remember is the 22-yarder to Cooper Kupp in the fourth quarter, on which he moved safety Vonn Bell outside with his eyes, then threw inside down the middle of the field, with the ball just slipping past Bell’s outstretched hand (You can get more detail on that in this morning’s column). But more than just that, Stafford’s ability to stay calm through a couple picks, as the coaches saw, had a powerful effect on the whole team.
“He's got incredible poise, and he knew we needed to just keep playing,” offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell told me. “And they had a good plan. We missed some opps on third down. We were trying to get the ball down the field and to some of those one-on-one matchups, and just didn't convert those plays. And when you do that, you do have a chance to go three-and-out. You do have a chance to kinda give the ball back to those guys.
“Defense, Raheem's group, they were unbelievable getting us the rock back, and then we kinda knew that was the drive. We knew we had to keep the ball in Matthew's hands, distribute it, let him see coverage and just go to work.”
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• As for the Bengals … where do they go from here?
Cincinnati is in excellent shape. The Bengals project to have nearly $60 million in cap space, which should allow them to franchise star safety Jessie Bates, and still have plenty to spend. And, obviously, they have a very significant issue to address on the offensive line, which gave up 19 sacks over four games in the postseason. The position they’re in mirrors the one Kansas City was in last year, after its line was bludgeoned by Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl.
And the Chiefs went all-out after that to reconstruct their line completely. They traded for Orlando Brown to play left tackle, they signed Joe Thuney as a free agent, and they drafted Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith. All four guys started, and with a year together the group (so long as Brown’s re-signed) has a chance to become a real team strength.
The Bengals could do something similar. Maybe they sign Brandon Scherff to be their Thuney, or Terron Armstead to be their version of Andrew Whitworth (coming over from another team in his 30s to be a unit leader at left tackle). And then they could spend a couple picks in the draft, with the class expected to have some good options up front, and maybe 2021 second-rounder Jackson Carman improves too.
What’s clear is the Bengals have to get better up there. And given how much they’ve invested in Burrow, they should be aggressive in trying to accomplish that.
• It may seem a little off that Aaron Donald would walk away after a performance like that, but there’ve been rumors swirling for over a week that family considerations have him thinking hard on it. But, really, would it be that out of line with what we’ve seen great NFL players do over the last decade?
Donald just completed his eighth NFL season. Patrick Willis retired after eight seasons. Calvin Johnson only went nine. And Donald’s done more than Willis and Johnson—who were both all-time greats in their own right—in winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards and, now, a championship.
I don’t think it’s an accident that these sorts of Jim Brown occurrences are becoming more common. Guys are making more money and, generally, are smart with their money. They’re also more aware of the toll the game takes on their bodies, and more cognizant of what lies after football—which motivates them to set up post-career plans ahead of time. So they’re more capable of making these decisions than ever before.
No one should be shocked if Donald goes through with it. And if he does, he won’t be the last guy to make a decision like that.
• One huge edge the Bengals will carry out of all this that shouldn’t be overlooked: Their coaching staff will return largely intact. Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo interviewed for jobs this year, and will likely be more prominent in that mix in 2023. But for now, they’re sticking around, and that’s great news for a team full of young talent.
• One situation to watch this week is where the Chiefs go with Eric Bieniemy. His contract is up, and it’s been public since last summer that he was hurtling toward expiration. It’s usually not an accident when that sort of information gets out, nor is it an accident when an assistant coach goes into a contract year without an extension. So this very much bears watching.
And especially so with the availability of Matt Nagy as a potential replacement. Among those in the Kansas City organization, Nagy’s long been looked at as a prospective successor to Andy Reid, in part because of his close relationship with GM Brett Veach. So if Bieniemy wants to pursue an expanded role elsewhere, the idea of getting Nagy back in the building now would probably have some appeal to the organization.
Bieniemy and Reid are scheduled to meet this week.
• One last thing on coaches, and just file this one away: A lot of Rams staffers were perplexed by the fact that defensive coordinator Raheem Morris didn’t get interest for the nine head-coaching openings. I’d go so far as to say McVay was actually pretty upset over it. The good news is that a coaching effort like the one we saw in the Super Bowl from Morris should help.
How good was Morris? Well, as he, McVay and I walked through the tunnel Sunday night, I asked if he’d done anything to get Donald loose in the second half. McVay stopped me.
“Raheem did,” he said. “Just a guy shining his brightest.”
What Morris did is another thing we dove into in the morning column. You can find the details on it there. But know this: A lot of people in the Rams organization view Morris as an excellent head coaching candidate, maybe as good as they have had (and O’Connell will be the fourth guy they’ve had on McVay’s staff to become a head coach) over the last five years.
So like we said in the Friday GamePlan column, Morris’s time is coming.
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