McVay taking Rams into uncharted waters as road warriors...

Sean McVay taking Rams into uncharted territory as true road warriors

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

In the NFL, there are countless measures of success with no singular stat being completely indicative of a team’s ability (or inability) to win. Sure, converting on third down is important, as is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Winning the turnover battle and maintaining an advantage in time of possession certainly help you win, too.

However, many of the best teams in the NFL win on the road, and do so consistently. Winning at home is one thing, but marching into a hostile environment and coming away with a victory when you’re not supposed to can be the difference between 8-8 and 12-4.


For the Rams, becoming road warriors has been an underrated aspect of Sean McVay’s tenure thus far. Everyone talks about the job he’s done with Jared Goff and his unstoppable offensive scheme, but he’s turned the Rams into a dominant team away from home.

On Sunday, Los Angeles knocked off the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field – the fifth straight road game the Rams have won dating back to last season. It’s just the sixth time in franchise history that they’ve won five in a row on the road with the last coming in 2001.

Since McVay took over, the Rams have been the best road team in the NFL at 9-1. Notice all the great teams that top this list dating back to last season.

If you include the Rams’ “home” win over the Cardinals in London last season, McVay is 10-1 away from the Coliseum in his career thus far. That’s a remarkable winning percentage for any coach, let alone a 32-year-old in his second season at the helm.

If you compare the Rams’ road success to their lack thereof in the previous 10 years, the numbers are staggering. From 2007-16, the Rams won just 20 games on the road – just 11 more wins than McVay has in 70 fewer games.

In that span, the Rams won just over 25 percent of their road games. That was the third-worst mark in the NFL, ahead of only the Browns (0.213) and Jaguars (0.250).

Even when the Rams were at the peak of the NFL from 1999-2001, their road record couldn’t touch McVay’s the past two seasons.

1999-2001: 18-6 (0.750 winning percentage)
2007-16: 20-59-1 (0.256 winning percentage)
2017-18: 9-1 (0.900 winning percentage)
Now, the fact that the Rams have been so good on the road doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to make the Super Bowl and win it all. There’s still a long way to go, despite their favorable chances and the demise of seemingly every contender in the NFC.

However, in the past 10 years, road success is very indicative of a team’s championship odds. Since 2008, 13 of the 20 teams to play in the Super Bowl won at least 75 percent of their road games that season. Only two teams – the Packers in 2010 and Cardinals in 2008 – won less than half their road games in a season where they reached the Super Bowl, each going 3-5 away from home.

In fact, six teams went at least 7-1 on the road and reached the title game in that span, including an 8-0 run by the Patriots in 2016 and a 7-1 record by them the following season.

Again, there’s still a long time between now and February, but if the Rams can continue to win away from home, they could find themselves playing for a championship on the road.