Rams Head Coach Sean McVay – Rams-Seahawks Postgame Quotes – Dec. 8, 2019
(Opening Remarks)
“Great team win, really pleased with our guys today. Definitely some things that we can clean up, but I thought our defense was outstanding from the start against a great offense that has been putting a lot of pressure on people. It’s a great football team tonight that we played. (Seahawks Head) Coach (Pete) Carroll and his staff, we have so much respect for that team, his coaching staff and all those guys. I thought, really, our team did a nice job of responding and now we’ve got to do a great job next week against the Cowboys.”
(On who stood out tonight on defense)
“I think, really, (DT) Aaron Donald is always a guy that stands out, (OLB) Dante Fowler with another couple of sacks tonight. It was great for (CB) Troy Hill, I thought he showed up in a big way tonight – made a bunch of breakups, came up and tackled well and then to be able to get that pick to cap it off, I thought was great.”
(On if he thinks the third-down 19-yard pass on the opening possession to WR Robert Woods was a turning point for the offense)
“I think just to be able to get some momentum, to really score on your first-two opening drives, really, we scored on three of our first four. We had the one three-and-out on the third series, but I thought that was big. It was a great job by (QB) Jared (Goff) sitting in there, delivered a good ball and then we were able to get some momentum going. To be able to punch it in was big for us. I thought Jared did a great job and I love the way, more than anything, that he responded from a couple of things that – just some miscommunication. Give credit to (Seahawks S Quandre) Diggs, he made a nice play on the one pick that he ended up taking back the other way.”
(On if he feels like the offense picked up where they left off in the Arizona game and if he feels like they’ve found a rhythm)
“I think the two weeks, we’ve been into a rhythm. That’s a great defense we played tonight and some of the things that led to stops, they did a great job, but it was also very correctable things. I like the way that our guys just continued to compete, loved the way that we wrapped it up. You’re only as good as your last game, but now we’ve got to move forward and put together a good performance. I think when you see the two games that we’ve had the last couple of weeks, that’s more in alignment of what we want to be, while knowing that there is always going to be things that we can improve on.”
(On if TE Tyler Higbee’s back-to-back career performances and what’s enabled him to have that kind of role in the offense)
“I think just getting the opportunities. We’ve always thought he’s a complete tight end. (Tight Ends Coach) Wes Phillips does a great job with him and he’s a really good football player. He’s going to continue to get opportunities, he’s going to continue to be a big part of this offense – especially when you just look at how vital he’s been over the last couple of weeks when things have started to go in the direction or trend in the direction that we want. That’s a good thing.”
(On if he thinks this game was the best overall performance from the team this year)
“I think it was a big-time win for us, no doubt about it. Until you go back and look at the tape it’s always hard to say. I’ve really just been impressed with this team’s mental toughness, their ability to stick together and just fight through the day, fight through the next opportunity and we will see if we can keep this thing rolling.”
(On how nice it was to see the defense play the way they did)
“Really for them to just be able to continue to hold a great offense, great quarterback, leading the way and you look at what they’ve been able to do running the football, I thought it says a lot about our defense and their resilience, just to be able to continue to compete. A couple of the turnovers where we put them in some bad spots, they didn’t flinch, they didn’t blink. Those guys did a great job all night.”
(On the no-huddle offense being so efficient and QB Jared Goff’s comfort with the offense)
“Well, I think it’s really just changing up the tempos. When you can be efficient on those early downs, you can mix it up. It’s not always being in no-huddle, but it’s being able to pick and choose your spots where you feel like you can apply pressure to the defense and I thought he’s done an excellent job operating when we’ve decided to press the tempo a little bit, but he’s done a lot of good things the last couple weeks just when we’re in our normal operation in and out of the huddles. Ideally for us, you want to be able to just kind of present different tempos at the right times to try to give yourself an advantage.”
(On Goff’s improved performance and efficiency)
“Well, I’m seeing a guy who’s been playing good football lately. Any time that you look at the entire body of work, it’s a team sport. We can sit there and watch every single play and there’s going to be some times that he can be better and there’s going to be some times where I could be better with the call or his 10 teammates could be better. What I like is we’re playing good ball lately. The last couple games all 11 are on the same page. I think our coaches on offense have done a nice job and I’ve been pleased with that.”
(On the offensive line’s performance)
“It’s really impressive. It’s been great. (Run Game Coordinator) Aaron Kromer doing is an outstanding job, you’ve got (T) Andrew Whitworth leading the way, I think (OL) Austin Blythe’s been outstanding at the center position, and then you look at two of our younger guards in (OL) David Edwards and (OL) Austin Corbett really stepping up in a nice way and (T) Bobby Evans has been great at the right tackle position. I think you see those guys getting more and more comfortable, they’re confident, they’re physical, they’ve got athleticism. I’ve been really pleased with that group.”
(On Running Back Todd Gurley II’s performance and the offense’s production not being a coincidence)
“I think so. When he gets involved, good things are happening for us. That means we’re probably running the football efficiently, as well and that means we can kind of dictate some things on our own terms as opposed to feeling like you’re always kind of on defense mode if you’re in the second-and-longs and the third-down-and-longs and I thought it was another good week where we were going to be efficient on third downs. I think we were about 50 percent again tonight and I think that’s a big thing.”
(On Gurley II’s stiff-arm touchdown run in the fourth quarter)
“I loved it. We needed it, because we had moved the ball and had a couple turnovers in that second half, we had missed the field goal, so to really have 21 points In the first half and then to have some good drives and some things and some things and nothing to really show for it until (RB) Todd (Gurley II) punched that in, I felt like that kind of capped off the night. I loved the couple of runs by (WR) Robert Woods as well on that drive to be able to get us down in there. I think it was a 95-yard drive right there to be able to cap that off, and any time Todd bounces it around the corner, that’s when you feel pretty good about he’s going to find a way to get it in.”
(On if he pays attention to which other teams around the league are winning and losing as the playoff picture unfolds)
“You know what, we really don’t. whatever happens is going to happen and it’s the cliché but it’s the truth, because whatever happens in those other games, sure you’d like things to work out in your favor, but the only thing that really matters is what we can do and all we can do is have a great week of preparation, try to beat the Cowboys. If things work out, usually, I’ve kind of said this before, they have a way of kind of working themselves out if that’s what’s supposed to happen, but we’re going to continue to just focus on trying to play good football next week.”
(On how it felt for him personally to see the offense get into a rhythm)
“I’m always going to go back to the players are the ones making those plays. I think you can feel as a result of us being efficient, getting opportunities, you can get into a little bit more rhythm and get a feel for what you want to be able to kind of present to a defense, but it’s about those plays coming to life from the players. They’ve done a good job and that’s your job. That’s my job is to be able to put these guys into positions. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t, but you always want to evaluate your decision making. For the most part I think there was a good feel, but you’ll go back just like anything else. When we look at the players, you look at yourself and you make sure you that you learn from the mistakes and try to learn from the good things as well.”
(On if this game felt like a playoff atmosphere)
“It was a great atmosphere. I think what we’ve been fortunate to have over the last couple of years is that fans show up, there’s a buzz. I thought that there was a buzz even just walking out. The players had that good feel again, very similar to last week and they came out from the jump. I thought that they demonstrated that in a big way and let’s see if we can keep this thing going.”
(On what the difference between last and this time against Seahawks QB Russell Wilson was)
“I just thought their relentless pursuit. I thought we were able to keep a great player like him, for the most part, in the pocket. Did a great job of playing good coverage on the back end. I think stopping the run, being able to efficiently kind of keep them where they’re really not able to get the runs off and he’s not able to make the plays. They had a lot of big-time plays off the play-action game last time we played them. It’s a great offense and one game, it was a great game for us tonight. Now we move on and we get ready for Dallas next week.”