Rams News: Challenging 2022 Season Changed Sean McVay's Perspective

The Rams followed up Super Bowl championship glory with a 5-12 season.

Jan 7, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Now on the cusp of his eighth season guiding the team, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay appears to be in a reflective mood about his run with the franchise. The youngest person to ever be hired as a head coach when he was 30 in 2017, McVay has evolved from wunderkind to old hand, having led the club to a pair of Super Bowl berths with two different quarterbacks, winning it all in Super Bowl LVI.

What happened the next season showed McVay how unstable even teams with the best-laid plans can truly be in the NFL, per Nick Shook of NFL.com.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford and Super Bowl MVP wide receiver Cooper Kupp were both bitten by the injury bug. Both players appeared in just nine contests for Los Angeles in 2022. Without two of their strongest offensive pieces available for eight games, the Rams fell to a lackluster 5-12 record and missed the postseason, just a year removed from capturing the title. Los Angeles rebounded in a big way during the 2023 season, recording a 10-7 record while a mostly-healthy Stafford made his second-ever Pro Bowl. The addition of rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua, a sleeper draft pick who became an All-Pro Second Teamer, helped L.A. survive another injury-plagued run for Kupp, who missed five games.

"I feel like these last couple of years, there's really just been a real renewed purpose and perspective that reminds you what a blessing this is," McVay said. "You kind of had lost that a little bit in the midst of the journey, especially things going well and then obviously, the challenging year in '22."

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