Sean McVay says facing former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley will be ‘a great challenge’
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has had a wildly successful career as the lead decision-maker for his football team since 2017 and will square off against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17 against a former member of his staff in Brandon Staley. The highly anticipated intracity matchup is sure to be a momentous occasion for both teams and will decide which of Los Angeles’ two teams reign supreme in the 2022 season.
Asked about how the dynamic in preparation is different when getting ready to face a former member of his staff, McVay seemed excited to take the opportunity by the horns and bring a dynamic gameplan into Sunday’s matchup.
“I think it’s a great challenge,” McVay said. “We’ll jump into the tape here after I finish up with you guys. You guys know the amount of respect that I have for him as a football mind and a football coach, and you can see they’ve done a great job putting themselves in legitimate playoff contention where they’re excellent and I think they are great in crunch time moments. I think everybody has a little bit different spin on it based on their personnel.
“And how many similarities are there to what [Packers Defensive Coordinator] Joe [Barry] and [Broncos Defensive Coordinator] E [Ejiro Evero] are doing? I’ll be able to kind of be better equipped with those answers once I dive into the tape, but you know it’s going to be a really sound outfit, guys are going to be in the right spots. He does a great job of trying to create a lot of conflict and try to be the aggressor and dictate the terms from his vantage point defensively with the scheme that he runs and the mind that he has.”
The Chargers have won more games this year, and the Rams are likely to be underdogs in this matchup despite having won two of their last three games. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has settled in as a starting quarterback for the Rams, but the Chargers will have the advantage at the position with Justin Herbert under center.
McVay will need to put together a wicked effective strategy to emerge victorious against his former defensive coordinator on Sunday, and if he can make it happen, it would mean a lot to Rams fans who have seen their team struggle in their 2022 campaign.
