The McVay household is unlike most others on Christmas, gift exchanges postponed until the final whistle of the football games that the holiday featured.
Rams head coach Sean McVay claimed it didn’t take away from the quality time he spent with his parents and son, Jordan, but the games aren’t an excuse to lounge on the couch, stealing half-hearted glances at the television.
“I tell myself not to get emotionally invested,” McVay said during a Zoom call Tuesday. “Then you get invested and then you’re saying, ‘Why the hell did I do that?’”
His predicament was accentuated by the fact that Monday offered a free film session of the Rams’ upcoming opponent, the New York Giants. In this “mini-bye” week – with the Rams coming off a Thursday night victory over New Orleans – that’s where preparation started.
Capitalizing on opportunities they can control – like McVay tuning in to get ahead of the Giants, who will be playing on a short week – has translated to the Rams winning five of their last six games and holding the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
“The best thing this team has done is they have focused on what they can control to put themselves in a position to even have the conversations that we’re having right now, about playing meaningful ball in December and up into January,” McVay said.
What the Rams have controlled is affording themselves the authority over their playoff destiny: A win this week against the Giants and the following week against the San Francisco 49ers cinches the Rams earn a wild-card berth.
That reality wasn’t on their agenda before this recent surge.
McVay doesn’t block out the alternative scenarios that would aid them in case of a loss. But the Rams have changed the direction of their season because of a heightened attention to their approach, not the ones of those around them.
The Giants don’t have playoff hopes of their own anymore, but they were a few plays away from spoiling…
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