Sean McVay has a 55-26 regular season record as the Rams head coach, but his success has not extended to the team’s games against the 49ers.
They’re 3-7 against their NFC West rivals over his five years on the job and they carry a six-game losing streak against the Niners into Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. Kyle Shanahan, who McVay once worked under in Washington, has been the coach of the 49ers for all of those contests and that led to a question for McVay on Wednesday about whether Shanahan is in his head.
“No,” McVay said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “What I do have is respect for these guys. They’ve done a great job. You look at it, you’ve got to play well in that three-and-a-half hour window that we’re allotted. You look at the last time we played them — didn’t finish the game. But this is a really good football team. We have a lot of respect for them, but we’re competing and preparing to the best of our ability to see if we can advance. But this is a really good team. Kyle’s an excellent coach. He’s got great players, great coaches, good schemes, so that’s why they’re in the NFC Championship.”
The losses haven’t followed any particular script. The Rams gave up a 17-0 lead to the 49ers in a Week 18 loss, but they lost a one-sided affair in Week 10 and the entire run has seen them lose in a variety of ways. As long as that continues, questions about whether there’s a mental aspect to their on-field imbalance will continue to come McVay’s way.