Link: https://sports.nbcsports.com/2018/1...lex-helped-keep-the-los-angeles-rams-perfect/
"So we shouldn?t go crazy in praising a player for getting down in-bounds and giving up a touchdown for the good of the team, when the clock can be run out. We won?t. But it?s worth pointing out because it illustrates a lot about how symphonic this team is, and how the players and coaches listen and learn.
In training camp, McVay works on special plays. Odd plays, plays that might come up once a year or maybe once in 10 years. Or never. In camp, McVay and the staff worked on
the play they christened the ?Rolex Play.? Meaning this, as McVay told me: ?Time is more important than the points. Time means everything there.?
It?s part of the McVay program.
Each week, the special teams coach, John Fassel (the ultra-slim man?s nickname is ?Bones?),
gathers plays from around the league?either good ideas on weird plays, or plays teams messed up by simply not using common sense. ?Bones has a meeting every week where we compile situations, try to educate ourselves as coaches and our players on, If this happens, how do we handle it? Rolex was one of those. In Rolex, if we got a first down there, that was one of those get-down-in-bounds situations. As long as we hang onto the ball, they can?t score. But we score, then they get the ball back.?
In the huddle, on third-and-10 with 65 seconds to play, multiple guys said one of three things: ?Rolex,? ?Get down,? and ?Don?t score.? That, as guard Rodger Saffold told me, is a group of players who understand what?s required there, all thinking in unison. Again: It?s not stunningly smart. It?s just sensible, and shows the how unified and well-drilled the team is.
So McVay called the power sweep, pitched to Gurley. Classic power football. And it worked. From the 21, Gurley broke through the line and sprinted toward the goal line. ?I could have walked into the end zone,? Gurley said. ?But we talked in the huddle about being situationally aware and just getting down and winning the game.?
It almost looked like the Green Bay defensive back, vet Tramon Williams, tried to lift up Gurley and keep him going. Strange, unless you understand the story.
?They want the ball in 12?s hands, of course,? Gurley said. Aaron Rodgers, he means.
A Jared Goff kneeldown, and game over.
I said to Gurley: ?You realize every fantasy player who has you on their team is screaming, ?Score! Score!?
Players, many of them, hate the fantasy football pollution on the game. Gurley gave me a little bit of a snide look. He said: ?They should be happy about all the performances I gave them in the weeks before. They need to be humbled as well.?
So there."
GL