December 23, 2024 • 31 mins
On this episode of the Coach McVay Show, Los Angeles Rams president Kevin Demoff joins J.B. Long and D’Marco Farr to reflect on Sunday's Week 16 win over the New York Jets, discuss tight end Tyler Higbee's journey back from injury, preview the Arizona Cardinals divisional matchup, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Happy holidays everyone, and welcome to a new edition of
The Coach McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface. Going to
try a little bit something different with the holidays upon
us JB. Long DeMarco far and it's none of the
head coach of your Los Angeles Rams, the president of
your Los Angeles Rams, Kevin Demof. Thanks for being here, Kevin,
my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Happy holidays.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We couldn't make less do this for a fourth time
this season on a short week.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Tells you how many short weeks we've had when you're like,
we need to really go to the bench, right, not
the bench, We're deep into it, practice squad fun stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Come on, now, what'd you think of the wind on
Sunday yesterday?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I you know, not every win's going to have style points,
and but playing across the coast ten am kick, you know,
sub twenty degree weather was a great testament. I think
starting slow, which I think is hard, you know, the
body clock, change the weather, and then just finishing it
up dominating physically.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And to have back to back weeks where you hold.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
An opponent under ten points, where you control the game
on the ground, I think it shows something different from
this team than maybe the forty four forty two win
over Buffalo does. And I think people have associated us
with high flying games, but when we've been in our
best under Sean McVay, we've run the ball with authority
at the end of the year, and I think that's
a great trend for the rest of the year.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I know we're focused on getting Rams fans in seats.
He's final two weeks of the regular season. But before
we talk about that, I've loved over this five game
road winning streak, seeing the representation on the road, in
particular in the Meadowlands in those sub freezing temperatures. Great
turnout by the Royal and Seoul.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
And we've had really good representation at MetLife the past
few years when you look, starting in twenty seventeen and
twenty twenty one when we went there in the Super
Bowl run. You know, even last year, very similar week.
I think it was Week seventeen, we were there with
the chance to clinch a playoff spot, you know. But
our fans travel, and I think it's great to see
that representation. I think our fans get a bit rap
(02:00):
for sometimes a national narrative about fans at Sofi Stadium,
which is completely different than our fans, but they were loud.
You could feel them, and you know, as we walked
down out to the buses last night, you could definitely
hear all the fans who stuck around last night and
it was great to feel that support. I know the
players did as well.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
That was awesome to see those fans there. You've been
through just about everything as far as wins and losses,
Super Bowls, everything from one and four to nine and six. Wow,
I mean that's unheard of.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Look last year you were three and six, but you
started three and three and you hit a rough patch
and you got to you know, three and six, and
then you know, we had ascendency. So from one in
four at the bye week taking stock of the organization
to nine and six and having a chance potentially to
clinch a playoff spot you know in week seventeen. It's
a great testament to the entire team of the coaching staff,
(02:51):
to the leadership, to staying together and you know, I
it speaks to the evolution. This is the Sean mcvash
Show and the Coach mc vas show show. We should
talk about him. If you go back to twenties, twenty eighteen,
even twenty twenty one. We used to get out to
really hot starts seven and one, eight and oh, eight
and one, and then we usually be about five hundred ish.
We'd hit a rough patch later in the year. And
(03:12):
I think to watch over the last two years, we've
got him better throughout the year. We've changed identities throughout
the year. With such a young team, with changing coaches,
I think that's such a testament to the growth of Sean,
the coaching staff, the players, and you know, all throughout
OTA's in training camp, you felt like this team had
something special. And then in training camp you just felt
(03:33):
every day a guy would get hurt and it was
kind of getting.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Robbed, you know. And then you go to Detroit.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
You finally get your group back and you're step and
step with a team that's now the number one seed,
had a chance to win it, you know, there in
the fourth quarter. And then you go to Arizona and
you're down half your team, you know, and then you
know they.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Start to come back slowly but surely.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And you know, really since the bye, if you want
to talk about being eight and two, but it's really
since you know, those offensive pieces have come back, since
Darius Williams has come back, and then the growth of
the young team. But you know, I don't think many
people thought nine and six when you're one and four.
But you know, this is also it reminds me of runs,
especially you see in the NBA and college basketball. It's
(04:14):
not just about getting back to even it's about finishing it.
And we have an opportunity these last two weeks to
put ourselves in a position to go make the playoffs.
And you know, no one will remember how we started
if we make the playoffs, and no one will care
about eight and two if we wanted missing the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I love the point you make about Sean and I
try to resist the urge to say it's like watching
him mature. Right, it makes us seem older than when
we are. But rare is the opportunity to see an
eight year coaching horizon in the National Football League. How
is he different as a person, as a leader, even
as recently as when he lifted the Lombardi Trophy.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Look, I think there's a growth of you know, I
think yesterday is a great example. You played the game
to win the game, and you know, I think when
we first came in, it was as much about winning
and style points because we could do it that way.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Now there is a relentless.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Focus on how do we just be the best version
of the Rams, how do we adapt and regroup train
a bunch of young kids. This is still the second
youngest roster in the NFL, or at least it was
a few weeks ago. You know, that is a maturity process.
I think with all of it, how do you adapt
to new coaches? How do you raise a new defensive coordinator?
(05:27):
How do you get Michael Floor you know greater reps
as an offensive coordinator?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
How do you adapt?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And you know, I think, look, I think it's probably
cliche to say he's matured. Of course, when you go
from thirty to thirty eight, you know he's matured. But
I think finding ways to win, no matter how you
can is great. And we can all tell the stories
when he was younger about winning games like we did yesterday,
and he'd be really frustrated, and you know, maybe he
(05:53):
never sowed it outside, but you would see it. And
you know, certainly yesterday, you know, against San Francisco to
great wins on the road, you know, maybe the conditions
were not how we were. I just think that that's
someone who knows how to win, who knows how to
find a way. And you know, I know you mentioned
it yesterday. Seven of eight winning seasons, you know, as
a head coach, you know, for a franchise that had
(06:15):
gone eleven years without being five hundred. That's an amazing testament,
you know, finding ways with different groups, with different teams
winning different ways. And I always think this may be me.
The best teams are the teams that can win in
different ways. You can outscore people, you can shut people down,
you can win on special teams. And I think this
year we found a way to do a little bit
of each, which I think is probably the greatest compliment
(06:37):
I can give this group.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
We've been trying to search for a name for identity.
I guess we could. He says it every week, resilient.
I guess that's the great way. And I have to
say this one more time. How come when it's twelve
to six or nineteen to nine do we say it's
boring and style points don't matter? Those are the most
beautiful games. To me. From the defensive perspective, you're living
and dying off one play that's gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well what I love about you know? Then this is fandom.
It's what makes the NFL great.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I read everything about our team and the number of
people you know, when we're one and four coming to you.
Guys should run the ball more. You should run the
ball more. Yesterday, it's why didn't they throw more right?
You know, why why do they keep you know, handing
the ball off to kyn Williams.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And you know, I.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Always say when fans and Tomarco you probably knew this
from the greatest Shan Turf, when fans start complaining about
how you win, it means you're doing something right good. Yeah,
like that means they've gotten bored with winning. Not that
we have, you know, been. We still need to win
a playoff game to go do that. But I would
say when people start criticizing how you're winning, it means
something's gone right in your organization for a.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
While, since you're winning a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah, I mean the biggest sign of how different he
is he's wearing nit caps on the sidelines. It's like
just to emphasize that he's willing to change.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
We know it was hard to tell from up you know,
in the press box. It looked like he might have
just been wearing an earband, you know, because the top
was black and he couldn't really see and so we
were like, is he wearing a hot league? I mean
that throw out nineteen nine throw coming back, or any
of the statistics you put out JB. Like the fact
that he wore a hat. Yeah, you know, you know,
(08:06):
maybe Veronica was in his ear Yeah, you know, maybe
he's trying to.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Set a good example.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
It was it was cold.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I mean, I d JB and I ran each other
in the elevator yesterday, did not recognize each other because
we were all bundled off, and it's like, you know,
not like hey, let's go have a great one fist bump.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
It's like, oh, I know you.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Yeah, Yeah. Environment matters young defense. You missed, Chris Jula.
At some point when these guys and they're they're playing
great football, but at some point when they get more
reps and become veteran players, you might be looking at
a shutout defense. The way they're going and the lessons
they're learning this year, it could be as far as
next week, this Saturday.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, I think that's the thing.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
You've watched them get better in the whole year, and
there were so many games where you know, I think
back to that first Detroit came. You know, we have
a chance to really shut them down and walk off
with a fourth quarter way and we didn't do. We
were young, though, right, starting so many guys and missing
tackles and missing sound. And I think this group, you know,
has figured out. You have four amazing young kids, you know,
(09:04):
first and second year who are learning how.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
To play together.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
That group has a chance to play together for a
very long time, right, And that's the exciting part. And
then you add in in all our spates is and Andrutru.
I want to dismiss what Christian Roseman's done, or Cam
Kenchens or Quinn Lake, but this is not a very
seasoned defense aside from basically Darius Williams and Cam Curll
and maybe now Acello. This is a group of first, second,
(09:29):
third year players, and I think this is a very
different defense than we've had, you know, certainly without Aaron Donald,
certainly you know, without a von Miller or a Dante Fowler.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Leonard Floyd.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
But you see some you know, real traits that you
can can grow with. And one of the things if
we could have that continuity on defense, because I do
think defense like offensive line. The more you play together,
the more you learn. And you watch these guys the stunts,
the games up front, just learning each other.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And that was one of the.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Great things about having the opportunity to draft to Jared Bitt,
Jared versus Brandon Fisk, because they did know each other
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now you factor that in.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
You add in to Michael Hoyd, and it's been fun
to watch them get better. You still go through those,
you know, I call it nervous parrot moments. You know,
ninety nine yard drive, You're like, okay, like this may
not be our day. But then they didn't give up
a touchdown again, didn't give up a point in the
second half. You know, one touchdown in the last two
weeks is pretty impressive to Rogers.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
That's yeah, yeah, Kevin.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I want to give you a chance to kind of
brag on a few other branches of the organization through
like a two year lens. When you make the decision
you did going into last season, we're going to clean
up our books, We're going to take some salary cap pain,
and you make the postseason. Anyway, when you have Aaron
Donald retire and you need to draft the future of
the Rams on defense, and you might make the playoffs again,
(10:49):
Like how fulfilling would that be for less than his team?
For Tony and his team? If you can see this
through to fruition.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Well, look, I always thought, you know, we what I
loved about our organization, you know, certainly once we hired
Sean was the ability to see the world a little
bit differently. You hire a young coach and people weren't
doing that. You know, you start, you know, less in
his group, starting to get aggressive, making trades using draft
picks when you know that wasn't in vogue. Then that
became in vogue, right and it was no longer a
(11:16):
competitive advantage for us, And you know, I think, you know,
I wrote this is my season take a letter of
year ago when we went through the McCaffrey sweepstakes in
twenty twenty two, and people were willing to be just
as aggressive, but they had more draft capital, they had
more salary cap space. You realized we couldn't just rely
upon being more aggressive. You know, that was not a path,
and so you had to go try to figure out
(11:36):
maybe where people weren't headed. And I'm not saying, you
know that we had figured it out just yet. But
I always thought adaptability was the hallmark of what we
could do. And there would be nothing better than the
chance to go compete and win another Super Bowl, not
just on an f M picks basis, but on a
home grown let's go draft to Kyen Williams to Puka Nakua,
(11:56):
you know that defense and kind of look across out
a bow Lmmer, you know, Steve Avila, you start to
see some of that. That would be special too, to
be able to do it a different way. There haven't
been a lot of organizations that have been able to
do that. But look, I think last year there was
some doubt as to how quickly we could turn it over,
and it was great to be able to race that.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
But as we haven't won a playoff.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Game since the Super Bowl, that standard is higher here
than you know, it's not just making the playoffs, it's
not just being around. You know, we should be competing
for Super Bowls and we should be right back in
to that window. And while I thought last year was
a great turnaround, you know that's our expectation. And you know,
I don't want to say moral victories But when you
look at I think, to your point, this is the
(12:38):
first time we had a first round pick and you
see a Jared Versch, like, oh yeah, that's what first
round picks look like. Break you know, Brandon Fisk and
Steve Avilla so fortunate. I mean, you look at Kobe
Turner and cam Kinchin's and Blake Korm and Byron Young
as third rounders. That's an impressive third round group. Then
you look at Pookin Hkua and Kyen Williams pro bowlers
(12:59):
in the fifth round, you know, and bou Limmer in
the sixth round. You know, Josh Cart he give him
credit yesterday. I mean he's had six field goals six
of six and field goals the last two weeks in
tough conditions.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
You know. Those to me, are you know?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Those are the signs you get in the undrafted. But look,
I think that's part of also where you get the
collaboration between the coaching staff and the scouting staff, of
that marriage of knowing what works, knowing who plays well
in our building, knowing what doesn't.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I think as we get in that time of year
when people are changing coaches, changing gms, I feel so
fortunate knowing that it's not just that we have great
leaders in Sean and Less, but that the ability for
them to work together gives us a huge advantage over
every team that's starting a new for a couple of years.
And I think while we've been able to turn it over,
and you know, we have really smart people in our division,
(13:50):
really talented people. It's a really competitive division. But I'm
excited about where we're at, but certainly not satisfied with
just being here.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Like, we've got to breakthrough.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
We've got to go get some playoff wins, and we've
got to being you know, that ability to compete for
the Super Bowl is what's our expectation.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Big one coming up Saturday. I'm glad you mentioned running
the football, the LA Dot Department of Transportation, the old line.
It seems like once you get those guys together in
JEL football ain't that hard. Once you have a good
five starting five, things start to work out. But I
have never rooted so hard for a running back in
my life that I root for Kien Williams. I just
love the way he pinballs himself around. And like you said,
(14:27):
when it gets cold, you rely on your running game
and it seems like he's stepping his game up in
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, I mean, you talk about resilience a couple of
unfortunate turnovers in the middle of that season and watch
them have three hundred yard games in the last four
but not Look, and it's not just the yards, right,
it is being dependable, being really reliable on first down.
This offense goes based on how we play on first down.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
When you look at Sean McVay, you can tell we're
having a good game when we're getting four or five
six yards on first down. Then and he's in his
bag on second down, and you know, we kind of
know that. And you know, but I think there's not
a coincidence. We've run the ball really well last few weeks.
Matthew hasn't been sacked. Right, you get to the play
action game, you get out of the third and eights,
the third and nines. That is so helpful to this
(15:10):
offense in the way we operate. And but Kyrien's one
of those great special human beings. Like to watch Steven
Jackson come in and present him the Walter Payton Man
of the Year from that kid, who is it? The
Edward Jones Dome, you know, with Steven Jackson to where
he is now, it's just been a joy. And you know,
(15:31):
I think he gets overlooked at times because he's not
the flashiest player. He doesn't have the eighty yard runs.
And we've been so spoiled in this organization to have
you know, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Fallk and Steven Jackson, you know,
and Todd Gurley and Lawrence McCutcheon and we got Kenny
Washings like we've been blessed with special backs. Kyen Williams
(15:52):
is a a plus player at a plus human being
and those are the things you love.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
And I think he's getting stronger, you know, as the
year goes on. I think he leads the league carries,
which is a good thing and a bad thing.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
But you know, watching him the last few weeks, and
I thought he had a run yesterday that kind of
got stood up the line, bounced off and pushed them
guys down and got seven when you probably got two.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
That moved.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
No, not the scrum. We had a couple of great scrums.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yeah, We've We've had more scrums the past few weeks
than I've ever seen for this team. I think you know,
Steve Avila got behind one scrum yesterday and literally moved
it a first down.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It was ten yards.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I mean, Kevin Dotson got his flowers, you know, last week,
and I think he's feeling it. You know, I don't
know if you saw him coming out of the tunnel yesterday.
He's feeling himself a little bit, which we love. But
you know, those plays, you know, I think I read
we didn't have any negative plays yesterday. Like that's a
great testament, not only the line, but the running game
and look that travels. And we're in a fortunate situation
(16:49):
and unfortunately we've been eliminated from the wildcard and we
cannot be a wildcard. So it's either win the division
or bust. But that would mean three straight home games
at SOFI stayed and finished up the year. You know,
if we're fortunate enough to go get into the playoffs,
and I think that's great, but if you have to
go play another cold weather game, I guess Philadelphia would
be the only you know, potential chance. Like at least
(17:11):
I know we have a team that can travel. People
talk all the time about you know, we have not
always played well in cold weather, and there's no reason
to build a cold weather team here. We don't play
anybody in the division who plays in cold weather. You know,
even you look when you play the NFC North, you know,
two of those teams play in a dome. Like if
you were to look and build your team on paper
to go to Shawn Lesson say build a team for
(17:31):
cold weather, it would be kind of dumb, but it's
great to know when you need it, you can do it.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
There's like an organizational care story to be told through
the lens of Tyler Higbee or winning with your people.
And I saw him this morning and I had to
tell him, like, I've seen a lot of touchdowns and
a lot of wins. I know you have too, but
yours yesterday is going to be one of the memories
that I hold fondly. From your standpoint, what did that
say about the Los Angeles Rams and Tyler Higbee?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
You know, I thought one of the coolest things was,
you know Neil alatrosh team doctor who's doctor the Stars right.
People talk about him repairing Aaron Rodgers achilles and Tom.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Brady's knee, and you know, you can get into.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
The cam Akers and you hear al Michael's time aunt
time he wanted to be on the sideline at the
end of the game to go celebrate with Tyler Higbee. Wow, right,
this wasn't a famous, you know quarterback. This was pride
and joy of the entire organization of someone who's been
the heart and soul of this team for eight years
and probably now what the second longest tenured player behind
(18:33):
Rob Havenstein, and someone who does it so well. And
I always think back to you know, Nick Hayley when
he got here saying he did not appreciate everything Tyler
Higbee could do as a player, as a human, as
a leader, you know from Afar, and I think, I
want to say, people take him for granted, and people
(18:54):
want the flashy move, the tight ends who has one
hundred catches, or the inline blocker. He is such a
complete player, but the heart and soul in the engine.
We don't have a lot of fiery players in offense.
He has always been one of those guys, right, who
brings the emotion, you know, who celebrates, who has a
little bit of that you know, panash And so to
(19:16):
see him one of the glue guys, someone who's been
a captain get a chance to go score and I mean,
I think if he had dove from the fifteen.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
He would have scored.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
But if you watch the all twenty two, the players
going to celebrate, you know, the coaches on the sideline
doing the big rig, the joy in the locker room
when he got a game ball. To me, those are
the moments when you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Know you have a great building.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
When everybody from the support staff to the players, to
the coaches to your team doctors root for someone like that,
it means that he's done something right.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And one of my favorite.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Players we've ever had, my wife's absolute favorite player. I'm
not sure for athletic reasons, but you know that's a
whole different story. But uh just I think you know,
he's already the all time leading receiver for a Rams
heat end, and you know, certainly deserves a place in
Rams history, but still has some some time ahead of him.
(20:17):
And you know, I think it's been great this year.
We've always talked about getting him more help, and you
see it, you know with a Hunter Long with Kolby
Parkinson and that trio and Davis Allen, you know, quadrant.
So it's awesome, but just so exciting to see him
and to see the joy yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
He said it was a space jam moment he dove
out with the football.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean he yeah, if that had been the
NBA contest, he left from the three point line.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Yeah, right, like awesome. We we said this for years.
I don't think you're going to get a pro bowler
from the tight end spot in the McVeigh offense because
of what they ask you to do and the things
you have to be good at blocking, run around like
a receiver, and then oh, catch the screen and run
it into the end zone. That's just tough. Not everyone
can do that.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
No, And I think if you think back to you know,
when we drafted Gerald whatever and we had to move
like to be the complete player to play an eleven
you know where you have to block and catch and
be able to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
It's such a testament to his ability. And it was
such a blow last year we lost him, you know,
in that playoff game as you're driving down to take
that you know, go ahead score.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
So it's great to see that.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
And hopefully we'll get him a chance to finish the
playoffs this year in the right way. But I tell
you had they you know, we were worried when we
watched that they were going to overturn that play, and
I'm pretty sure Les Snead would have rushed the NFL
control at th Park, you know, to make sure that
that play to not get overturned, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right, what about this week and this moment in time,
it feels like another inflection point opportunity for the Rams
as an organization, with two home games to potentially clinch
the West and a home playoff game with it.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Kevin, Look, I think these are you know, when the
schedule comes out and everybody does all your calculations, Oh
that's a win, that's a loss, which is so dumb.
You look at the end of the year and you say, okay,
two home games against against division opponents, if we can
get there with a blessing, right like, you have a
chance against Arizona and Seattle to go finish off, make
(22:17):
the playoffs, Mason push, go win the division, and to us,
that is what you want in front of your fans,
you know, at the holidays, to finish off the year,
to go have a chance, you know, to win the division.
And you know, look, we got thumped by Arizona pretty
good in Week two. This is a chance you know,
(22:38):
forget about all of that, Like, we got to go
prove that we can play with these guys, because that
was one of the worst games I've seen from us,
you know, in a long time. And I hope that
that sticks with our guys. And look, Seattle has been
a dog fight every time. I feel like every time
we play Seattle, someone gets ahead, someone comes back, and
it always comes down, you know, to the final possession.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
But it's a huge opportunity, you know.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
I know our fans will embrace it, you know, we
you know, one of the great things about Arizona Seattle,
it's usually one hundred percent rams fans this time of year.
And you know it's really weird too. You get those
two games, you don't know when they're going to be played.
You know, for about a month we looked like we
were heading towards a Saturday game, and you want to
tell fans, hey, Saturday or Sunday. You know, I think
(23:26):
an opportunity in primetime at home Sofi Stadium, national audience. Uh,
it's a great way for people to see our organization
and our players are the best. But you know, we
need to go win these two games. You know, there
are a lot of scenarios that can have us clinching
a lot of different ways, but the only one that's
guaranteed is you go win the last two games, and
(23:48):
you go eleven and six, you win the NFC West
and be a three seed. What an amazing opportunity to
then come in and host a playoff.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Game and and get that.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I think for those of us who you know,
for through in New York, the idea to have three
games in Los Angeles, uh sounds pretty good. But you know,
I think it's a great credit, you know, festive atmosphere,
what we can do. We've done the Rams House for
the holidays the past few years where people can donate tickets,
you know, to people who may not be able to
go to ramskind of the Wise, and we've had some amazing,
(24:19):
you know, holiday atmospheres. I think back to our Christmas
Day game against the Broncos, you know, fifty five points
I think all time high for Sean McVay and points scored.
But you know, I'm excited to see us as an
organization be have a chance to be at our best
for the next two weeks and see where that is.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Be Young versus Fisk Turner Hoyt pretty good, right, Imagine
how good they would be with crowd noise, lots of
it for three straight.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Home games, silent count environment.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
You're saying, oh my god, come on rock the house.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
And so Far, well, look, I think you you felt that,
you know, we'll ignore the face mask against Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, great home field advantage.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You felt that last year, and you know I didn't
think you look back when we had the run of
games home last year. We finished off with five straight
home wins and that New Orleans Thursday night game right
before an unbelievable one of my favorites so FI environments
we've ever had. And I think when you look at that,
you know, for us to have a chance to really
run this team is you know, well, we've shown different ways.
(25:21):
At its core, its built to play from ahead, throw
the ball, protect, pass, rush right, and if we could
get that opportunity with a great home crowd, you know,
behind us, because so Far is an amazingly loud building
and it's been loud either way. I thought it was
very loud against the Bills. I thought our fans did
an amazing you know job there, and you know, let's
go build off that for the last few weeks.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I saw Josh Allen pumping that cleat a couple of
times here at the end of that game. That was real.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
One of them.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I mean, you want to talk about great all time
memories the wild card game against Arizona, that place was
rocking from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
And if we can get that kind of environment for
Arizona for Seattle, maybe not our Tuesday COVID Yeah, okay,
you know, which was a unique one in so far lore.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
But it's always been fun.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
It's good to be here in Woodland Hills with you, Kevin.
We have not talked about being here in this permanent
temporary facility yet, but new digs for us, we've really
enjoyed it this year. How has it serviced the twenty
twenty four Los Angeles Rams and what comes next?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It's been I mean, I think our players and coaches
and staff have loved it. I think it's been a
great environment, a great change up. You know, people walking around,
you know, we've probably done them as this service when
they think new trailers are the taj mahal you know
of practice facilities. But you know, I do think you know,
one of the great things about this building wall.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It is temporary.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
We took the eight years of learning at cal Vuthran,
which was an amazing home, and redesigned this space to
make it very player efficient, very player friendly for the coaches.
We got Sean McVay windows which he never actually uses.
So you know, it's a point of contention with me
that the shades are always down. But I think it's
been a great home and it's great to know be
(27:00):
here forever right like that we have, you know, these
hundred acres that you can start to draw plans that
we don't have to do, you know, a move we've had,
I think one windy day which was the head coach's
number one desire to get out of the wind it,
you know at cal Lutherans. So I think it's been
a great new home and as you start to plan
and envision what a permanent home here, you know can
(27:21):
really look like we love being in thousand Oaks in
the Canajo Valley. I know a lot of our players
still still live there, but I think this has a
chance to be the epicenter for the Los Angeles Rams.
You know, for those days we're not at Sofi Stadium
in Hollywood Park and you know, I think the valley
has embraced us, This community has embraced us. It has
been terrific, and you know, had a chance to see
(27:42):
some renderings of what's coming in the future, and there
will truly be nothing like it, you know in the
NFL once we you know, get rolling. My grandkids may
be the ones.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
To see that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
But you know, but look, I always say this and
Sean last I give our coaches players credit. There are
so many new facilities being built in college and the pros,
and it's been an armors race.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Especially in college.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
We went to two super Bowls and trailers like, it's
about your culture, it's about your people. It's about giving
them the chance to be their best.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
It's not about bells and whistles.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And while this place is much better, in the future
place we'll have all those bells and whistles. Our players
have never used it as an excuse. They've always viewed
it as hey, come in here and get your work done.
Is it a player friendly environment? And you know that
to me is what's always been important. Is are we
building a culture that we can win it? And you
know the answer to that has always been yes. And
(28:34):
I think the players have been a resounding guest. But
you know, it's been nice to to see things change
up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I won't ask you what's on your Christmas list. I
think we all have the same thing on our Christmas list, right,
Oh well it starts with making the postseason and then
moving on. Yeah, another one of those things.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I thought that was a uniform question, didn't you didn't
you think it might have been.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I mean, we could change it to uniforms if you
want to. I was talking about you, you know, look
hoisting one more. Yeah, I mean was a joke.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
The problem with my Christmas list, it's the same as
my birthday wish. It's the same as ask for for
my anniversary.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Ever, you're like, just to.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Make the playoffs, right, Like it's pretty it makes you
pretty predictable, right, Like, oh all we need that is
but uh, you know, we always have this joke every
year we get to around these games and you know,
Less always says, you know, if we lose, we need
to cancel Christmas. Well such a you know, and unfortunately
Carre is the one who has to go through with
like are we actually canceling Christmas?
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Like are we going to do this? Are we not.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And you know, so yesterday you know, when we uh
we got the fourth down stop to kind of go
up with you know, get the ball back with two
minutes and we looked at less and we go.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well, good news for your family Christmas.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Christmas doesn't canceled this year, thankfully, Jordan Winington and made
sure to do that. But I look, it's a great
time of year. I always give credit to the entire
organization balancing. You know, there are only two holidays in
the NFL, and that's Memorial Day and fourth of July.
Right when you balance the Thanksgiving when you're working on
Chris miss and it's hard when everybody else in the world,
especially a week like this where Monday, this whole week
is off basically for the rest of the world, and
(30:07):
our players are focused here on the most important game
that they've had all year.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
It's a great credit.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
But I think on under you know, under the Tree,
I think we'd all like a Bears win Thursday. Thomas Brown,
if you're listening, if you could do your former team
a solid, you know, that would give us a chance
for a hat and teachert game on Saturday. But I
just want to you know, wishes to keep playing good
football and if we do that, you know that'll take
(30:32):
care of itself.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
DeMarco Farr, Kevin Demoff, JB. Long. Wishing each and every
one of you a merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Hope to
see you at the Rams House prime time Saturday. It's
Week seventeen against the Arizona Cardinals and another important one
beyond it against the Seattle Seahawks to round out the
regular season. Thank you for being with us as always
on The Coach McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface
Happy holidays everyone, and welcome to a new edition of
The Coach McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface. Going to
try a little bit something different with the holidays upon
us JB. Long DeMarco far and it's none of the
head coach of your Los Angeles Rams, the president of
your Los Angeles Rams, Kevin Demof. Thanks for being here, Kevin,
my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Happy holidays.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
We couldn't make less do this for a fourth time
this season on a short week.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Tells you how many short weeks we've had when you're like,
we need to really go to the bench, right, not
the bench, We're deep into it, practice squad fun stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Come on, now, what'd you think of the wind on
Sunday yesterday?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I you know, not every win's going to have style points,
and but playing across the coast ten am kick, you know,
sub twenty degree weather was a great testament. I think
starting slow, which I think is hard, you know, the
body clock, change the weather, and then just finishing it
up dominating physically.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
And to have back to back weeks where you hold.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
An opponent under ten points, where you control the game
on the ground, I think it shows something different from
this team than maybe the forty four forty two win
over Buffalo does. And I think people have associated us
with high flying games, but when we've been in our
best under Sean McVay, we've run the ball with authority
at the end of the year, and I think that's
a great trend for the rest of the year.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I know we're focused on getting Rams fans in seats.
He's final two weeks of the regular season. But before
we talk about that, I've loved over this five game
road winning streak, seeing the representation on the road, in
particular in the Meadowlands in those sub freezing temperatures. Great
turnout by the Royal and Seoul.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
And we've had really good representation at MetLife the past
few years when you look, starting in twenty seventeen and
twenty twenty one when we went there in the Super
Bowl run. You know, even last year, very similar week.
I think it was Week seventeen, we were there with
the chance to clinch a playoff spot, you know. But
our fans travel, and I think it's great to see
that representation. I think our fans get a bit rap
(02:00):
for sometimes a national narrative about fans at Sofi Stadium,
which is completely different than our fans, but they were loud.
You could feel them, and you know, as we walked
down out to the buses last night, you could definitely
hear all the fans who stuck around last night and
it was great to feel that support. I know the
players did as well.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
That was awesome to see those fans there. You've been
through just about everything as far as wins and losses,
Super Bowls, everything from one and four to nine and six. Wow,
I mean that's unheard of.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Look last year you were three and six, but you
started three and three and you hit a rough patch
and you got to you know, three and six, and
then you know, we had ascendency. So from one in
four at the bye week taking stock of the organization
to nine and six and having a chance potentially to
clinch a playoff spot you know in week seventeen. It's
a great testament to the entire team of the coaching staff,
(02:51):
to the leadership, to staying together and you know, I
it speaks to the evolution. This is the Sean mcvash
Show and the Coach mc vas show show. We should
talk about him. If you go back to twenties, twenty eighteen,
even twenty twenty one. We used to get out to
really hot starts seven and one, eight and oh, eight
and one, and then we usually be about five hundred ish.
We'd hit a rough patch later in the year. And
(03:12):
I think to watch over the last two years, we've
got him better throughout the year. We've changed identities throughout
the year. With such a young team, with changing coaches,
I think that's such a testament to the growth of Sean,
the coaching staff, the players, and you know, all throughout
OTA's in training camp, you felt like this team had
something special. And then in training camp you just felt
(03:33):
every day a guy would get hurt and it was
kind of getting.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Robbed, you know. And then you go to Detroit.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
You finally get your group back and you're step and
step with a team that's now the number one seed,
had a chance to win it, you know, there in
the fourth quarter. And then you go to Arizona and
you're down half your team, you know, and then you
know they.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Start to come back slowly but surely.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
And you know, really since the bye, if you want
to talk about being eight and two, but it's really
since you know, those offensive pieces have come back, since
Darius Williams has come back, and then the growth of
the young team. But you know, I don't think many
people thought nine and six when you're one and four.
But you know, this is also it reminds me of runs,
especially you see in the NBA and college basketball. It's
(04:14):
not just about getting back to even it's about finishing it.
And we have an opportunity these last two weeks to
put ourselves in a position to go make the playoffs.
And you know, no one will remember how we started
if we make the playoffs, and no one will care
about eight and two if we wanted missing the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I love the point you make about Sean and I
try to resist the urge to say it's like watching
him mature. Right, it makes us seem older than when
we are. But rare is the opportunity to see an
eight year coaching horizon in the National Football League. How
is he different as a person, as a leader, even
as recently as when he lifted the Lombardi Trophy.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Look, I think there's a growth of you know, I
think yesterday is a great example. You played the game
to win the game, and you know, I think when
we first came in, it was as much about winning
and style points because we could do it that way.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Now there is a relentless.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Focus on how do we just be the best version
of the Rams, how do we adapt and regroup train
a bunch of young kids. This is still the second
youngest roster in the NFL, or at least it was
a few weeks ago. You know, that is a maturity process.
I think with all of it, how do you adapt
to new coaches? How do you raise a new defensive coordinator?
(05:27):
How do you get Michael Floor you know greater reps
as an offensive coordinator?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
How do you adapt?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And you know, I think, look, I think it's probably
cliche to say he's matured. Of course, when you go
from thirty to thirty eight, you know he's matured. But
I think finding ways to win, no matter how you
can is great. And we can all tell the stories
when he was younger about winning games like we did yesterday,
and he'd be really frustrated, and you know, maybe he
(05:53):
never sowed it outside, but you would see it. And
you know, certainly yesterday, you know, against San Francisco to
great wins on the road, you know, maybe the conditions
were not how we were. I just think that that's
someone who knows how to win, who knows how to
find a way. And you know, I know you mentioned
it yesterday. Seven of eight winning seasons, you know, as
a head coach, you know, for a franchise that had
(06:15):
gone eleven years without being five hundred. That's an amazing testament,
you know, finding ways with different groups, with different teams
winning different ways. And I always think this may be me.
The best teams are the teams that can win in
different ways. You can outscore people, you can shut people down,
you can win on special teams. And I think this
year we found a way to do a little bit
of each, which I think is probably the greatest compliment
(06:37):
I can give this group.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
We've been trying to search for a name for identity.
I guess we could. He says it every week, resilient.
I guess that's the great way. And I have to
say this one more time. How come when it's twelve
to six or nineteen to nine do we say it's
boring and style points don't matter? Those are the most
beautiful games. To me. From the defensive perspective, you're living
and dying off one play that's gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well what I love about you know? Then this is fandom.
It's what makes the NFL great.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I read everything about our team and the number of
people you know, when we're one and four coming to you.
Guys should run the ball more. You should run the
ball more. Yesterday, it's why didn't they throw more right?
You know, why why do they keep you know, handing
the ball off to kyn Williams.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And you know, I.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Always say when fans and Tomarco you probably knew this
from the greatest Shan Turf, when fans start complaining about
how you win, it means you're doing something right good. Yeah,
like that means they've gotten bored with winning. Not that
we have, you know, been. We still need to win
a playoff game to go do that. But I would
say when people start criticizing how you're winning, it means
something's gone right in your organization for a.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
While, since you're winning a lot.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yeah, I mean the biggest sign of how different he
is he's wearing nit caps on the sidelines. It's like
just to emphasize that he's willing to change.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
We know it was hard to tell from up you know,
in the press box. It looked like he might have
just been wearing an earband, you know, because the top
was black and he couldn't really see and so we
were like, is he wearing a hot league? I mean
that throw out nineteen nine throw coming back, or any
of the statistics you put out JB. Like the fact
that he wore a hat. Yeah, you know, you know,
(08:06):
maybe Veronica was in his ear Yeah, you know, maybe
he's trying to.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Set a good example.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
It was it was cold.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I mean, I d JB and I ran each other
in the elevator yesterday, did not recognize each other because
we were all bundled off, and it's like, you know,
not like hey, let's go have a great one fist bump.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
It's like, oh, I know you.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Yeah, Yeah. Environment matters young defense. You missed, Chris Jula.
At some point when these guys and they're they're playing
great football, but at some point when they get more
reps and become veteran players, you might be looking at
a shutout defense. The way they're going and the lessons
they're learning this year, it could be as far as
next week, this Saturday.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, I think that's the thing.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
You've watched them get better in the whole year, and
there were so many games where you know, I think
back to that first Detroit came. You know, we have
a chance to really shut them down and walk off
with a fourth quarter way and we didn't do. We
were young, though, right, starting so many guys and missing
tackles and missing sound. And I think this group, you know,
has figured out. You have four amazing young kids, you know,
(09:04):
first and second year who are learning how.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
To play together.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
That group has a chance to play together for a
very long time, right, And that's the exciting part. And
then you add in in all our spates is and Andrutru.
I want to dismiss what Christian Roseman's done, or Cam
Kenchens or Quinn Lake, but this is not a very
seasoned defense aside from basically Darius Williams and Cam Curll
and maybe now Acello. This is a group of first, second,
(09:29):
third year players, and I think this is a very
different defense than we've had, you know, certainly without Aaron Donald,
certainly you know, without a von Miller or a Dante Fowler.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Leonard Floyd.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
But you see some you know, real traits that you
can can grow with. And one of the things if
we could have that continuity on defense, because I do
think defense like offensive line. The more you play together,
the more you learn. And you watch these guys the stunts,
the games up front, just learning each other.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And that was one of the.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Great things about having the opportunity to draft to Jared Bitt,
Jared versus Brandon Fisk, because they did know each other
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now you factor that in.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
You add in to Michael Hoyd, and it's been fun
to watch them get better. You still go through those,
you know, I call it nervous parrot moments. You know,
ninety nine yard drive, You're like, okay, like this may
not be our day. But then they didn't give up
a touchdown again, didn't give up a point in the
second half. You know, one touchdown in the last two
weeks is pretty impressive to Rogers.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
That's yeah, yeah, Kevin.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I want to give you a chance to kind of
brag on a few other branches of the organization through
like a two year lens. When you make the decision
you did going into last season, we're going to clean
up our books, We're going to take some salary cap pain,
and you make the postseason. Anyway, when you have Aaron
Donald retire and you need to draft the future of
the Rams on defense, and you might make the playoffs again,
(10:49):
Like how fulfilling would that be for less than his team?
For Tony and his team? If you can see this
through to fruition.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Well, look, I always thought, you know, we what I
loved about our organization, you know, certainly once we hired
Sean was the ability to see the world a little
bit differently. You hire a young coach and people weren't
doing that. You know, you start, you know, less in
his group, starting to get aggressive, making trades using draft
picks when you know that wasn't in vogue. Then that
became in vogue, right and it was no longer a
(11:16):
competitive advantage for us, And you know, I think, you know,
I wrote this is my season take a letter of
year ago when we went through the McCaffrey sweepstakes in
twenty twenty two, and people were willing to be just
as aggressive, but they had more draft capital, they had
more salary cap space. You realized we couldn't just rely
upon being more aggressive. You know, that was not a path,
and so you had to go try to figure out
(11:36):
maybe where people weren't headed. And I'm not saying, you
know that we had figured it out just yet. But
I always thought adaptability was the hallmark of what we
could do. And there would be nothing better than the
chance to go compete and win another Super Bowl, not
just on an f M picks basis, but on a
home grown let's go draft to Kyen Williams to Puka Nakua,
(11:56):
you know that defense and kind of look across out
a bow Lmmer, you know, Steve Avila, you start to
see some of that. That would be special too, to
be able to do it a different way. There haven't
been a lot of organizations that have been able to
do that. But look, I think last year there was
some doubt as to how quickly we could turn it over,
and it was great to be able to race that.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
But as we haven't won a playoff.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Game since the Super Bowl, that standard is higher here
than you know, it's not just making the playoffs, it's
not just being around. You know, we should be competing
for Super Bowls and we should be right back in
to that window. And while I thought last year was
a great turnaround, you know that's our expectation. And you know,
I don't want to say moral victories But when you
look at I think, to your point, this is the
(12:38):
first time we had a first round pick and you
see a Jared Versch, like, oh yeah, that's what first
round picks look like. Break you know, Brandon Fisk and
Steve Avilla so fortunate. I mean, you look at Kobe
Turner and cam Kinchin's and Blake Korm and Byron Young
as third rounders. That's an impressive third round group. Then
you look at Pookin Hkua and Kyen Williams pro bowlers
(12:59):
in the fifth round, you know, and bou Limmer in
the sixth round. You know, Josh Cart he give him
credit yesterday. I mean he's had six field goals six
of six and field goals the last two weeks in
tough conditions.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
You know. Those to me, are you know?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Those are the signs you get in the undrafted. But look,
I think that's part of also where you get the
collaboration between the coaching staff and the scouting staff, of
that marriage of knowing what works, knowing who plays well
in our building, knowing what doesn't.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I think as we get in that time of year
when people are changing coaches, changing gms, I feel so
fortunate knowing that it's not just that we have great
leaders in Sean and Less, but that the ability for
them to work together gives us a huge advantage over
every team that's starting a new for a couple of years.
And I think while we've been able to turn it over,
and you know, we have really smart people in our division,
(13:50):
really talented people. It's a really competitive division. But I'm
excited about where we're at, but certainly not satisfied with
just being here.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Like, we've got to breakthrough.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
We've got to go get some playoff wins, and we've
got to being you know, that ability to compete for
the Super Bowl is what's our expectation.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Big one coming up Saturday. I'm glad you mentioned running
the football, the LA Dot Department of Transportation, the old line.
It seems like once you get those guys together in
JEL football ain't that hard. Once you have a good
five starting five, things start to work out. But I
have never rooted so hard for a running back in
my life that I root for Kien Williams. I just
love the way he pinballs himself around. And like you said,
(14:27):
when it gets cold, you rely on your running game
and it seems like he's stepping his game up in
the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Yeah, I mean, you talk about resilience a couple of
unfortunate turnovers in the middle of that season and watch
them have three hundred yard games in the last four
but not Look, and it's not just the yards, right,
it is being dependable, being really reliable on first down.
This offense goes based on how we play on first down.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
When you look at Sean McVay, you can tell we're
having a good game when we're getting four or five
six yards on first down. Then and he's in his
bag on second down, and you know, we kind of
know that. And you know, but I think there's not
a coincidence. We've run the ball really well last few weeks.
Matthew hasn't been sacked. Right, you get to the play
action game, you get out of the third and eights,
the third and nines. That is so helpful to this
(15:10):
offense in the way we operate. And but Kyrien's one
of those great special human beings. Like to watch Steven
Jackson come in and present him the Walter Payton Man
of the Year from that kid, who is it? The
Edward Jones Dome, you know, with Steven Jackson to where
he is now, it's just been a joy. And you know,
(15:31):
I think he gets overlooked at times because he's not
the flashiest player. He doesn't have the eighty yard runs.
And we've been so spoiled in this organization to have
you know, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Fallk and Steven Jackson, you know,
and Todd Gurley and Lawrence McCutcheon and we got Kenny
Washings like we've been blessed with special backs. Kyen Williams
(15:52):
is a a plus player at a plus human being
and those are the things you love.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
And I think he's getting stronger, you know, as the
year goes on. I think he leads the league carries,
which is a good thing and a bad thing.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
But you know, watching him the last few weeks, and
I thought he had a run yesterday that kind of
got stood up the line, bounced off and pushed them
guys down and got seven when you probably got two.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
That moved.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
No, not the scrum. We had a couple of great scrums.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Yeah, We've We've had more scrums the past few weeks
than I've ever seen for this team. I think you know,
Steve Avila got behind one scrum yesterday and literally moved
it a first down.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
It was ten yards.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I mean, Kevin Dotson got his flowers, you know, last week,
and I think he's feeling it. You know, I don't
know if you saw him coming out of the tunnel yesterday.
He's feeling himself a little bit, which we love. But
you know, those plays, you know, I think I read
we didn't have any negative plays yesterday. Like that's a
great testament, not only the line, but the running game
and look that travels. And we're in a fortunate situation
(16:49):
and unfortunately we've been eliminated from the wildcard and we
cannot be a wildcard. So it's either win the division
or bust. But that would mean three straight home games
at SOFI stayed and finished up the year. You know,
if we're fortunate enough to go get into the playoffs,
and I think that's great, but if you have to
go play another cold weather game, I guess Philadelphia would
be the only you know, potential chance. Like at least
(17:11):
I know we have a team that can travel. People
talk all the time about you know, we have not
always played well in cold weather, and there's no reason
to build a cold weather team here. We don't play
anybody in the division who plays in cold weather. You know,
even you look when you play the NFC North, you know,
two of those teams play in a dome. Like if
you were to look and build your team on paper
to go to Shawn Lesson say build a team for
(17:31):
cold weather, it would be kind of dumb, but it's
great to know when you need it, you can do it.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
There's like an organizational care story to be told through
the lens of Tyler Higbee or winning with your people.
And I saw him this morning and I had to
tell him, like, I've seen a lot of touchdowns and
a lot of wins. I know you have too, but
yours yesterday is going to be one of the memories
that I hold fondly. From your standpoint, what did that
say about the Los Angeles Rams and Tyler Higbee?
Speaker 3 (17:58):
You know, I thought one of the coolest things was,
you know Neil alatrosh team doctor who's doctor the Stars right.
People talk about him repairing Aaron Rodgers achilles and Tom.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Brady's knee, and you know, you can get into.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
The cam Akers and you hear al Michael's time aunt
time he wanted to be on the sideline at the
end of the game to go celebrate with Tyler Higbee. Wow, right,
this wasn't a famous, you know quarterback. This was pride
and joy of the entire organization of someone who's been
the heart and soul of this team for eight years
and probably now what the second longest tenured player behind
(18:33):
Rob Havenstein, and someone who does it so well. And
I always think back to you know, Nick Hayley when
he got here saying he did not appreciate everything Tyler
Higbee could do as a player, as a human, as
a leader, you know from Afar, and I think, I
want to say, people take him for granted, and people
(18:54):
want the flashy move, the tight ends who has one
hundred catches, or the inline blocker. He is such a
complete player, but the heart and soul in the engine.
We don't have a lot of fiery players in offense.
He has always been one of those guys, right, who
brings the emotion, you know, who celebrates, who has a
little bit of that you know, panash And so to
(19:16):
see him one of the glue guys, someone who's been
a captain get a chance to go score and I mean,
I think if he had dove from the fifteen.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
He would have scored.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
But if you watch the all twenty two, the players
going to celebrate, you know, the coaches on the sideline
doing the big rig, the joy in the locker room
when he got a game ball. To me, those are
the moments when you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Know you have a great building.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
When everybody from the support staff to the players, to
the coaches to your team doctors root for someone like that,
it means that he's done something right.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And one of my favorite.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Players we've ever had, my wife's absolute favorite player. I'm
not sure for athletic reasons, but you know that's a
whole different story. But uh just I think you know,
he's already the all time leading receiver for a Rams
heat end, and you know, certainly deserves a place in
Rams history, but still has some some time ahead of him.
(20:17):
And you know, I think it's been great this year.
We've always talked about getting him more help, and you
see it, you know with a Hunter Long with Kolby
Parkinson and that trio and Davis Allen, you know, quadrant.
So it's awesome, but just so exciting to see him
and to see the joy yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
He said it was a space jam moment he dove
out with the football.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Yeah, I mean he yeah, if that had been the
NBA contest, he left from the three point line.
Speaker 4 (20:43):
Yeah, right, like awesome. We we said this for years.
I don't think you're going to get a pro bowler
from the tight end spot in the McVeigh offense because
of what they ask you to do and the things
you have to be good at blocking, run around like
a receiver, and then oh, catch the screen and run
it into the end zone. That's just tough. Not everyone
can do that.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
No, And I think if you think back to you know,
when we drafted Gerald whatever and we had to move
like to be the complete player to play an eleven
you know where you have to block and catch and
be able to do that.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
It's such a testament to his ability. And it was
such a blow last year we lost him, you know,
in that playoff game as you're driving down to take
that you know, go ahead score.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
So it's great to see that.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
And hopefully we'll get him a chance to finish the
playoffs this year in the right way. But I tell
you had they you know, we were worried when we
watched that they were going to overturn that play, and
I'm pretty sure Les Snead would have rushed the NFL
control at th Park, you know, to make sure that
that play to not get overturned, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right, what about this week and this moment in time,
it feels like another inflection point opportunity for the Rams
as an organization, with two home games to potentially clinch
the West and a home playoff game with it.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Kevin, Look, I think these are you know, when the
schedule comes out and everybody does all your calculations, Oh
that's a win, that's a loss, which is so dumb.
You look at the end of the year and you say, okay,
two home games against against division opponents, if we can
get there with a blessing, right like, you have a
chance against Arizona and Seattle to go finish off, make
(22:17):
the playoffs, Mason push, go win the division, and to us,
that is what you want in front of your fans,
you know, at the holidays, to finish off the year,
to go have a chance, you know, to win the division.
And you know, look, we got thumped by Arizona pretty
good in Week two. This is a chance you know,
(22:38):
forget about all of that, Like, we got to go
prove that we can play with these guys, because that
was one of the worst games I've seen from us,
you know, in a long time. And I hope that
that sticks with our guys. And look, Seattle has been
a dog fight every time. I feel like every time
we play Seattle, someone gets ahead, someone comes back, and
it always comes down, you know, to the final possession.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
But it's a huge opportunity, you know.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
I know our fans will embrace it, you know, we
you know, one of the great things about Arizona Seattle,
it's usually one hundred percent rams fans this time of year.
And you know it's really weird too. You get those
two games, you don't know when they're going to be played.
You know, for about a month we looked like we
were heading towards a Saturday game, and you want to
tell fans, hey, Saturday or Sunday. You know, I think
(23:26):
an opportunity in primetime at home Sofi Stadium, national audience. Uh,
it's a great way for people to see our organization
and our players are the best. But you know, we
need to go win these two games. You know, there
are a lot of scenarios that can have us clinching
a lot of different ways, but the only one that's
guaranteed is you go win the last two games, and
(23:48):
you go eleven and six, you win the NFC West
and be a three seed. What an amazing opportunity to
then come in and host a playoff.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Game and and get that.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
And I think for those of us who you know,
for through in New York, the idea to have three
games in Los Angeles, uh sounds pretty good. But you know,
I think it's a great credit, you know, festive atmosphere,
what we can do. We've done the Rams House for
the holidays the past few years where people can donate tickets,
you know, to people who may not be able to
go to ramskind of the Wise, and we've had some amazing,
(24:19):
you know, holiday atmospheres. I think back to our Christmas
Day game against the Broncos, you know, fifty five points
I think all time high for Sean McVay and points scored.
But you know, I'm excited to see us as an
organization be have a chance to be at our best
for the next two weeks and see where that is.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Be Young versus Fisk Turner Hoyt pretty good, right, Imagine
how good they would be with crowd noise, lots of
it for three straight.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Home games, silent count environment.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
You're saying, oh my god, come on rock the house.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
And so Far, well, look, I think you you felt that,
you know, we'll ignore the face mask against Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, great home field advantage.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You felt that last year, and you know I didn't
think you look back when we had the run of
games home last year. We finished off with five straight
home wins and that New Orleans Thursday night game right
before an unbelievable one of my favorites so FI environments
we've ever had. And I think when you look at that,
you know, for us to have a chance to really
run this team is you know, well, we've shown different ways.
(25:21):
At its core, its built to play from ahead, throw
the ball, protect, pass, rush right, and if we could
get that opportunity with a great home crowd, you know,
behind us, because so Far is an amazingly loud building
and it's been loud either way. I thought it was
very loud against the Bills. I thought our fans did
an amazing you know job there, and you know, let's
go build off that for the last few weeks.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
I saw Josh Allen pumping that cleat a couple of
times here at the end of that game. That was real.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
One of them.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I mean, you want to talk about great all time
memories the wild card game against Arizona, that place was
rocking from the beginning.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
And if we can get that kind of environment for
Arizona for Seattle, maybe not our Tuesday COVID Yeah, okay,
you know, which was a unique one in so far lore.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
But it's always been fun.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
It's good to be here in Woodland Hills with you, Kevin.
We have not talked about being here in this permanent
temporary facility yet, but new digs for us, we've really
enjoyed it this year. How has it serviced the twenty
twenty four Los Angeles Rams and what comes next?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
It's been I mean, I think our players and coaches
and staff have loved it. I think it's been a
great environment, a great change up. You know, people walking around,
you know, we've probably done them as this service when
they think new trailers are the taj mahal you know
of practice facilities. But you know, I do think you know,
one of the great things about this building wall.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
It is temporary.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
We took the eight years of learning at cal Vuthran,
which was an amazing home, and redesigned this space to
make it very player efficient, very player friendly for the coaches.
We got Sean McVay windows which he never actually uses.
So you know, it's a point of contention with me
that the shades are always down. But I think it's
been a great home and it's great to know be
(27:00):
here forever right like that we have, you know, these
hundred acres that you can start to draw plans that
we don't have to do, you know, a move we've had,
I think one windy day which was the head coach's
number one desire to get out of the wind it,
you know at cal Lutherans. So I think it's been
a great new home and as you start to plan
and envision what a permanent home here, you know can
(27:21):
really look like we love being in thousand Oaks in
the Canajo Valley. I know a lot of our players
still still live there, but I think this has a
chance to be the epicenter for the Los Angeles Rams.
You know, for those days we're not at Sofi Stadium
in Hollywood Park and you know, I think the valley
has embraced us, This community has embraced us. It has
been terrific, and you know, had a chance to see
(27:42):
some renderings of what's coming in the future, and there
will truly be nothing like it, you know in the
NFL once we you know, get rolling. My grandkids may
be the ones.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
To see that.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
But you know, but look, I always say this and
Sean last I give our coaches players credit. There are
so many new facilities being built in college and the pros,
and it's been an armors race.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Especially in college.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
We went to two super Bowls and trailers like, it's
about your culture, it's about your people. It's about giving
them the chance to be their best.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
It's not about bells and whistles.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
And while this place is much better, in the future
place we'll have all those bells and whistles. Our players
have never used it as an excuse. They've always viewed
it as hey, come in here and get your work done.
Is it a player friendly environment? And you know that
to me is what's always been important. Is are we
building a culture that we can win it? And you
know the answer to that has always been yes. And
(28:34):
I think the players have been a resounding guest. But
you know, it's been nice to to see things change
up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
I won't ask you what's on your Christmas list. I
think we all have the same thing on our Christmas list, right,
Oh well it starts with making the postseason and then
moving on. Yeah, another one of those things.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I thought that was a uniform question, didn't you didn't
you think it might have been.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
I mean, we could change it to uniforms if you
want to. I was talking about you, you know, look
hoisting one more. Yeah, I mean was a joke.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
The problem with my Christmas list, it's the same as
my birthday wish. It's the same as ask for for
my anniversary.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
Ever, you're like, just to.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Make the playoffs, right, Like it's pretty it makes you
pretty predictable, right, Like, oh all we need that is
but uh, you know, we always have this joke every
year we get to around these games and you know,
Less always says, you know, if we lose, we need
to cancel Christmas. Well such a you know, and unfortunately
Carre is the one who has to go through with
like are we actually canceling Christmas?
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Like are we going to do this? Are we not.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
And you know, so yesterday you know, when we uh
we got the fourth down stop to kind of go
up with you know, get the ball back with two
minutes and we looked at less and we go.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well, good news for your family Christmas.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Christmas doesn't canceled this year, thankfully, Jordan Winington and made
sure to do that. But I look, it's a great
time of year. I always give credit to the entire
organization balancing. You know, there are only two holidays in
the NFL, and that's Memorial Day and fourth of July.
Right when you balance the Thanksgiving when you're working on
Chris miss and it's hard when everybody else in the world,
especially a week like this where Monday, this whole week
is off basically for the rest of the world, and
(30:07):
our players are focused here on the most important game
that they've had all year.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
It's a great credit.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
But I think on under you know, under the Tree,
I think we'd all like a Bears win Thursday. Thomas Brown,
if you're listening, if you could do your former team
a solid, you know, that would give us a chance
for a hat and teachert game on Saturday. But I
just want to you know, wishes to keep playing good
football and if we do that, you know that'll take
(30:32):
care of itself.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
DeMarco Farr, Kevin Demoff, JB. Long. Wishing each and every
one of you a merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Hope to
see you at the Rams House prime time Saturday. It's
Week seventeen against the Arizona Cardinals and another important one
beyond it against the Seattle Seahawks to round out the
regular season. Thank you for being with us as always
on The Coach McVeigh Show, presented by Microsoft Surface
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