Does McVay become Knox/Martz/Fisher or Vermeil?

Caveat right out of the gate- I have not watched a game since week 2- I have zero time for the protests and the direction the NFL has gone. Literally ALL of my information comes from this board and visits to websites to get the box score. I truly thank this board for the information provided- it is in-depth, it is usually very well thought out and it often comes without much bias one way or the other. I really enjoy reading here.

Prior to the Eagles game, I posted that IF McVay ran Gurley at least 25 times, we would win that game- he didn't, we lost. Again came his excuse that it was all on him, that he had to commit to the running game. Against Tennesee he does, we win. Yesterday, via the box score, we ran the ball 16 times TOTAL, two by Brown, fourteen by Gurley. This, despite the fact that after one quarter, we were down by 6, at half we were down by 3, and at the end of three we were down by 9- none of those amounts were insurmountable. A time-consuming drive using Gurley to pound that defense and give ours a breather might have reversed the trajectory of the game. Did I add that in his 14 carries, Gurley had 101 yards? Yeah, I know one of them totaled 33, so subtract that and he's at 13 for 68, or a solid 5+ yards/carry. Point being, Atlanta sure wasn't stuffing him with any regularity. What does the boy-wonder do in response to that success- he has Goff drop back 45 times, nearly making the pass/run ratio for our offense 3-1. I'm not real impressed with Sean McVay right now.

Chuck Knox couldn't win a championship because he continually played with one hand tied behind his back in the playoffs- despite having talent like Jack Snow, Harold Jackson and Ron Jessie in the passing attack, Knox wouldn't use them- he won nothing of importance. Martz became the exact opposite- despite having Marshall Faulk in the backfield, Martz wouldn't stop throwing the ball, famously declaring after losing SB 36 by throwing all night long against an 8 man secondary that he should have thrown the ball MORE- Martz won nothing of importance. Jeff Fisher- run the ball on first and second down, try to pass on third and long, punt. Lather, rinse, repeat- Jeff Fisher won nothing of importance.

Dick Vermeil was the only one who finally recognized his weaknesses, started listening to his staff and trusted advisors, and brought home a trophy. The guy who babysat Lawrence Phillips, who proclaimed Tony Banks would be his QB, finally he somehow checked his ego, opened his ears and shut his mouth and trusted the intelligent people around him, and magic was made. Martz was great as the OC because Vermeil was there to ride herd (no pun intended) on him and keep the balance- once Martz was on his own and had no-one to be his check and balance, his "genius" went south in a hurry. McVay ought to take a long, hard look at that not-so-ancient history and maybe think about it, because he has demonstrated he has zero ability to this point to take his stud running back and rely on him. Right now, running Todd Gurley 14 times in a playoff game that you are within two scores of your opponent right up to the 4th quarter is complete incompetence. It feels as though Sean McVay, were he coaching the 7th game of the World Series, would reserve Mike Trout for a late inning pinch hitting role. I've listened to him feed us the same Martzian/Fisherian crap all year long- "my fault, we'll get it fixed, I promise to run Todd more". It's time for Sean McVay to find his Vermeil, since he seems incapable of controlling his "all pass, all the time" mentality.

I credit him with an incredible turn around- it sucks, not having watched the games this year after the decade plus of crap that the Rams have put on the field. I have followed since 1974, and I love this team. We had a chance at much, much more, but McVay refused to feed his beast, and with the possible exception of the Minnesota blowout, it cost us a number of the games we ended up losing. Lost to Redskins by 7, Gurley carries 16 times. Lost to Seahawks by 6, Gurley carries 14 times. Lost to Eagles by 8 (2 really, with last second garbage td they scored), Gurley carried 13 times. There is a pattern here that the genius should be able to detect- we'll see.

I hope this is not a trend, because his job next year will be much harder. Whitworth seemed to really start showing his age as the season wore on. Can Sullivan hold up for 16 games again, if we are able to re-sign him? Is Havenstein going to be a solid starter, or is he a back-up? How about all the free agents- Watkins, TruJo, Joyner, etc? Where are we getting the thumpers we need at ILB? Is Quinn experiencing a renaissance that will continue next year? What to do with Tavon Austin? Can we expect our starting five OL to go undinged all year again? We have serious issues at both OT spots, line depth in general, TE (?), OLB, and at the corners. We don't have the luxury of a last place schedule again. Things lined up for Sean McVay this year, yet his myopic coaching finally ended our season. I doubt we enjoy all the luck next year that we had this year. I think he has it in him, but he needs to find his counterweight and do it quickly.