One of the greatest and most memorable games in recent Rams history occurred on Jan. 20, 2019. It was, of course, the NFC Championship Game between the Rams and Saints, a game Los Angeles won 26-23 in overtime.
That was also the game that led to pass interference penalties being challengeable for a year after officials missed a clear penalty on Nickell Robey-Coleman in the fourth quarter, which kept the Rams in the game.
Sean McVay and his players won’t soon forget that contest for a number of reasons, one of which was the noise level inside the Superdome. On the latest episode of the “Flying Coach” podcast, McVay reflected on just how loud it was in New Orleans that night.
He compared it to being front row at a Metallica concert that never let up.
“By far the loudest game I’ve ever coached in,” he said. “It’s funny because we had played at New Orleans earlier in the year and so we figured, it was an unbelievable atmosphere but we still had the ability to communicate and get some of our longer intricate play calls and didn’t ever really feel like it was too much of an issue. Still operating on your silent count, different things like that. Maybe you can use your verbal cadence under center. So we were going to test our headsets out during warmups and I’m talking to Goff as they’re introducing their guys and I’m thinking, ‘Holy (expletive), we’ve got no chance of communicating the way that we did before.’
“It was like a Metallica concert sitting front row that never slowed up.”
Obviously, in an atmosphere that loud, it impacts the way play calls are made and the team’s adjustments at the line of scrimmage. McVay admitted the Rams had to get rid of a lot of their longer play calls, which would’ve been far too difficult to make in a huddle where you couldn’t hear yourself think.
The Rams still found a way to win, though, getting the job done in overtime on the road to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LII.
“It was definitely the loudest atmosphere. It for sure affected our ability to communicate. We had to streamline the game plan,” McVay added. “We had to eliminate a lot of the longer verbiage, wordy play calls. It was an adjustment but our guys settled in and did a great job of finding a way to get it done, but that was definitely unparalleled in terms of the noise and what we had there. it was a rockin’ atmosphere, that’s for sure.”
It was Greg Zuerlein’s 57-yard field goal in overtime that sent the Rams to the Super Bowl, a moment that silenced the crowd in a flash.
“That was a magical day, one that I’ll truly never forget. The silence after that kick went through was pretty awesome,” he said.
As controversial as the game was due to the no-call, it was one of the best moments for any Rams fan. McVay would just rather not coach in an environment like that.