Sean McVay says the NFL is 'as wide open' as he's seen since becoming a coach

[theramswire.usatoday.com] Sean McVay says the NFL is 'as wide open' as he's seen since becoming a coach

Cameron DaSilva
November 23, 2021 10:00 am PT
A quick glance at the standings will make it abundantly clear just how cluttered the NFL is right now from the top to the middle. Of the 32 teams, 20 currently own a record of 5-5 or better. Only one team has nine wins – the league-leading Arizona Cardinals – and nine have at least seven wins.

Incredibly, every team has at least two losses, too, so no one has cruised through its first 10 or 11 games.


It’s rare for there to be so many teams hanging around this late in the season but entering Week 12, only 3.5 games separate the No. 1 team from the eighth seed in the NFC – and only two games stand between the third seed and the eighth-seeded 49ers.

There’s always a ton of parity in the NFL, but this season has been a prime example of just how difficult it is to win week in and week out. Sean McVay has never seen the league this wide open so late in the season since he began coaching in the NFL, which dates back to 2008 when he got his start with the Buccaneers.

“This is as wide open, and you’re seeing as much of this parity exist since I’ve ever been coaching,” he said Monday. “I think that’s what makes the NFL exciting, but that’s also what makes it that much more important to be urgent in every single day the way that we approach our process, our rhythm, our routine – to be able to say, ‘All right, are those things that we’re doing in alignment with giving ourselves the chance to play our best football in the window of time that we’re allotted?’ There are some things that occur that are out of your control, but if you minimize and you do the right things week in and week out, I think you give yourself a chance for those percentages to sway in your favor.”

The Rams are right in the thick of things at 7-3, a game and a half back of the conference-leading Cardinals. They’ll have a chance to pull ahead of the Packers this weekend when they visit Lambeau Field, too, though the Rams will be stuck in the No. 5 spot unless they can overtake the Cardinals in the division.

On the flip side, the Rams are two games clear of the 49ers, who are currently 5-5 and rank eighth in the conference. They’re far from locking up a playoff berth, especially with one of the toughest remaining schedules in the NFL, but at least the Rams aren’t in serious danger of falling out of the playoff picture right now.

With two of their next three games coming against the Packers and Cardinals, the Rams need to be at their absolute best if they’re to earn a home game in the postseason by winning the NFC West.