Nov. 8, 2015, probably wasn’t a particularly meaningful day for a lot of people, but to Sean McVay and his robotic memory, it was a day he’ll never forget.
McVay, then offensive coordinator for the Redskins, got his first taste of what a matchup with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots is like. As McVay and the Los Angeles Rams prepare to face the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, the  33-year-old head coach hopes Round 2 against Belichick goes a little differently because Round 1 was ugly.
The Patriots waxed the Redskins 27-10, holding the offensive wunderkind’s unit to 250 total yards.
“Oh yeah, that was a … I’ll tell you what. Not good,” McVay told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “And our touchdown that day was a cheap touchdown, last minute, in a two-minute drive when the game was over. Coach Belichick and (defensive coordinator Matt) Patricia took us to the woodshed. Very humbling day.
“Couple things. That was the first time I’d been to Foxboro. You come out for warmups, before actual team warmups. That song by Jay-Z, ‘My name is Hov,’ starts blasting in the stadium, and you see Tom Brady walking out by himself. Fans are going crazy. I’m in the corner of the field like, Oh man! I wanna clap for him! Then you’re thinking, like, Oh crap. How we gonna win this one?”
McVay has come along way since being the first-time offensive coordinator for the Redskins. He’s engineered the quick turnaround of the young, upstart Rams, going 26-9 in two seasons in Los Angeles and has the Rams on the precipice of Super Bowl glory.
The only thing standing in the way is the guy who “took him to the woodshed” three years ago. Best of luck, Sean.
