Rams coach Sean McVay on Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes: ‘You can’t help but root for him’
Sean McVay is part of a small group of NFL coaches who have a perfect record against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
McVay’s Rams beat the Chiefs 54-51 in an epic “Monday Night Football” contest in 2018 in which Mahomes threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns.
While on The Helliepod podcast McVay was asked if the game was on the line, who would he want at quarterback. The podcast host, Dan Hellie, said McVay couldn’t pick Rams quarterback Jared Goff or the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, who worked with McVay in Washington.
“Mahomes. Easy,” McVay said. “So I’ll tell you what, I knew he was really good when he started playing just based on the film when we played them two years ago on that Monday night great game. But then I did some stuff for the pregame for the Super Bowl for ESPN. And so I dove in, and we didn’t cross over with the Chiefs too frequently this year so I didn’t see a lot of their film. So I really studied him pretty hard.
“This guy is so unique, I mean the athleticism, but he’s playing the position to like even just watching the AFC Championship where Tennessee did a great job of trying to play vision zone, keeping things in front of him, playing deep to short, and he was patient enough to take completions, make the right decisions. And then just when they play those man coverages and he breaks contain, he finds Sammy (Watkins) down the field for a big play. He’s so unique. He’s got such a great way about himself.”
That would be the 60-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to Watkins that sewed up the Chiefs’ win in the AFC Championship Game.
McVay said he had met Mahomes when having dinner with Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, the former Texas Tech coach.
“I just was so impressed with just the way he handled himself and then you just watch him, you can’t help but root for him,” McVay said. “Such a likable (guy) and he’s got such a great humility for a legitimate superstar. I mean this guy, you know everybody’s like, he gets the contract (and) I said, ‘hey that guy’s worth it.’ He’s special, he’s fun to watch. I mean, because shoot, you’ve still coaching but I’m a fan of the game, you know what he’s done has been impressive.”
Here is the talk of Mahomes:
