Consider Sean McVay as the catalyst of an NFL revolution.
In his first season in the league, he helped reverse the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive woes, en route to a division title.
The year after, the Rams were in the Super Bowl.
His early success prompted other NFL teams to hire younger, offensive-minded head coaches as well.
While he remains the youngest head coach in the league, there has been a wave of other tacticians that are below 40 years old.
Two of his former assistants, Zac Taylor and Matt LaFleur, became the top coaches for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers, respectively.
Sean McVay isn’t risking it with his QB1 pic.twitter.com/sMLhY0cUks
— PFF (@PFF) August 6, 2021
But in recent years, the Rams are undergoing an identity shift.
Their offense averaged 23.3 points per game last year, tied for 10th-worst in the league with the Chicago Bears.
On the other hand, defense became their calling card due to the likes of Jalen Ramsey, Leonard Floyd, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.
It was the defense that allowed them to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round.
Sadly, they lost to the Packers, 32-18, wherein Jared Goff threw for just 174 yards and a touchdown.
With Goff regressing, the Rams sought a change even if Goff just signed a contract extension.
Matthew Stafford wanted out of Detroit, and the Rams traded for him.
McVay’s Job Depends On Stafford’s Performance
For a while, Goff was able to run McVay’s offense smoothly.
He was able to hit receivers like Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods down the field.
But it seemed like everything took a slide after their loss in Super Bowl LIII.
The New England Patriots scored just 13 points.
However, that was enough to defeat a Rams squad the put up only three points on the board.
From that season where they went 13-3, the Rams finished at 9-7 and 10-6 over the next two years, respectively.
Goff also tallied just 3,952 yards in 2020 despite playing 15 regular-season games.
They won’t have much success if he continually played below par.
Instead, they traded him, first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, and a third-rounder in 2021 to the Detroit Lions for Stafford.
If there’s one thing that the former Georgia standout isn’t afraid of, it’s slinging the ball downfield.
Listen to Matthew Stafford relive Detroit Lions great Calvin Johnson’s 329-yard game against Dallas in 2013.
Stafford: “From day one, I knew that I was throwing to a Hall of Famer as long as he stayed healthy." pic.twitter.com/igOKSbOf4C
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) August 6, 2021
Injured shoulder and all, Stafford continued to throw bombs to his receivers, especially to Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson.
In 2011, Stafford threw for a career-high 5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns.
Since then, he reached the 4,000-yard mark in seven of the next nine seasons.
He did this with a team that constantly bottomed out in the NFC North.
He also has an extensive injury history, which makes him a tough gamer.
If he pans out with the Rams, McVay will continue to be the head coach for the foreseeable future.
However, their championship window may close in the next few years.
Stafford is already 33 years old and the beatdown is taking a toll on his body.
But with the weapons he has with the Rams, he has a chance to do something special with McVay’s offense.
The Rams’ potent offensive line can also prolong Stafford’s tenure as a top-flight quarterback.
If all of those elements click, McVay can stay in position at the City of Angels well into his 40s.
If it doesn’t, mortgaging the team’s future for Stafford will look like a bad investment.
NEXT: Rams Fans Must Wait Until Regular Season To See Matthew Stafford