After winning Super Bowl LVI, the Los Angeles Rams naturally have a target on their back in 2022. They’re the team to beat, the team everyone wants to unseat from the throne as world champions.
But in Sean McVay’s mind, the Rams aren’t heading into next season as champions. They’ve put that feeling behind them and they’re focused on the task at hand: winning one game at a time. During a SiriusXM town hall on Monday night, McVay said the Rams don’t talk about repeating as champions and don’t feel like they’re defending a title.
“Yeah, we don’t really talk about repeat. I think it’s, hey, be the best version of 2022. We’re not defending anything,” he said. “Everybody is 0-0 as we start this season and we know that because of what happened last year, it’s going to be that much more difficult. The things we did last year, there’s a lot of foundational things that you want to try to replicate, but if you think the same things we did last year are going to get us the same results, our guys know better than that. You always have to be able to evolve, you always have to be able to adapt.”
That’s the perfect approach for the Rams to take. McVay is constantly trying to find ways to evolve the offense, knowing what they did a few years ago won’t work as effectively now as it did then. He learned that in his first Super Bowl appearance when the Patriots completely shut down the Rams offense.
You can bet defenses will be keying on Cooper Kupp more after the season he just had, and offenses will continue to find ways to avoid throwing Jalen Ramsey’s way, as well as attempting to block Aaron Donald with multiple players.
If the Rams don’t adapt, they’ll struggle to find the same success they had a season ago.
