December 9, 2018. The 11-2 hotshot Los Angeles Rams push toward the NFC’s No. 1 seed as they visit the tough and battle-tested 9-4 Chicago Bears.
Despite the bizarre nature of this phrase, the Sunday night matchup was promoted as a QB showdown between burgeoning gunslingers Jared Goff and Mitch Trubisky.
The reality is that the game was a defensive stalemate played in awful weather. The Bears would be victorious, 16-5, and New Orleans ended up with the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams were held to under 250 yards of total offense as the Chicago defense, coordinated by Vic Fangio, made a statement that the Monsters of the Midway were back.
Fast forward to 2024 and Sean McVay, an older and wiser head coach, is set to face off against Fangio and his Philadelphia Eagles defense. Time is the ultimate teacher and McVay reflected on the lessons he had learned since their 2018 matchup.
“I think more than anything you learn that that was a really humbling night,” McVay said Friday. “They did a great job. I think very similar to what I talked about that year in the Super Bowl, not afraid to admit, there were things that I didn’t do a good enough job of putting our players in spots. I give the players for the opposing teams a ton of credit. I thought Vic and his coaching staff put together an outstanding game plan, regulated a lot of the things that we were doing at the time and it forced a lot of reflection. That was a good learning experience for me, and you try to apply those things whether you win or lose. There have been a lot of instances where teams have tried to replicate similar things to what was on display that night. What I have a lot of respect for with Coach Fangio is that he has an adaptability of flexibility and an identity that is whatever suits that game, that game plan or that team that he’s on. You always bring the sunshine. It was a great night for us. It was a good learning op though, but very humbling.”
The Eagles’ defense in 2024 is ranked first in yards allowed per game and second in yards allowed per play. Fangio also served as a coordinator for the Eagles in 2022 when they made it to the Super Bowl, advising then DC Jonathan Gannon. Gannon is the current head coach of the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals.
