McVay's offensive turnaround of the Rams might be unprecedentedAlden Gonzalez
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Perhaps no head coach has ever turned an offense around as quickly and as impressively as Sean McVay already has with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams managed a mere 224 points last season, the lowest total by an NFL team since 2012. This year, they have already scored 142 points, 13 more than the second-place New England Patriots. Research from the Elias Sports Bureau reveals that McVay, hired at the age of 30 to fix a broken offense, has the third-most points through a coach's first four career games since the merger in 1970.
The only two ahead of McVay: Bill Callahan, who got 162 points in his first four games with the 2002 Oakland Raiders, and Mike Martz, who got 160 points in his first four games with the 2000 St. Louis Rams. But Callahan was taking over a Jon Gruden-led Raiders team that finished fourth in the NFL in scoring the prior season, with established skill-position players such as Rich Gannon, Charlie Garner, Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. Martz took the controls for "The Greatest Show On Turf," with Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt leading the way.
The Rams team McVay inherited? It finished last in the NFL in yards after each of the previous two seasons and outside the top 20 in offensive DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) after each of the previous 10 seasons. The Rams' starting quarterback was only 22, the offensive line was a mess, the receiving corps was devoid of premier talent, and the running back was coming off a very unproductive season.
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