Sean McVay has had an incredible career to date, doing nothing but winning with the Los Angeles Rams since he arrived in 2017. For the first time in his NFL head coaching career, McVay will sport an under .500 regular season record on his resume.
Thanks to the Rams' 31-10 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills Thursday night, the defending champions are 0-1 for the first time since the 2016 season (the year before McVay arrived as head coach). Los Angeles went 5-0 in season openers under McVay prior to Thursday's loss, so the Rams always had a head start on a winning season. The Rams were only .500 in a regular season in McVay's first year (1-1), winning their first two games (or more) in four straight seasons.
The 21-point loss was the second-largest for a defending champion in a season opener, one point shy of the Baltimore Ravens losing by 22 points to the Denver Broncos (49-27) in the 2013 NFL Kickoff Game. In that game, Peyton Manning threw for seven touchdowns -- tying an NFL record.
Even with the season-opening loss, McVay is off to a historic start in his career. He is one of just three coaches to have a .650 win percentage in the regular season and .700 win percentage in the postseason, joining Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichick. The Rams are 55-27 (.670 win percentage) in McVay's six seasons in Los Angeles, winning three NFC West titles, two NFC championships, and a Super Bowl title.
McVay has led the Rams to four double-digit win seasons and is the youngest head coach to appear in two Super Bowls (36 years, 1 month old). He's also the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, sporting a 7-3 postseason record. McVay is one of six head coaches in league history to have a .700 win percentage in the postseason that has coached a minimum of 10 games.
The Rams should be fine in the long run under McVay, yet it's still impressive it took the head coach six seasons to get under .500 in a regular season.
