Sean McVay Says He Over-Prepared For Patriots Ahead Of Super Bowl LIII
BOSTON (CBS) -- In the minutes following their loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay was quick to admit that he had been completely outcoached by Bill Belichick. With that 13-3 loss now four months old, McVay is opening up about what he could have done to give his team a better chance at beating the Patriots.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated's Andy Benoit, McVay said he didn't handle the two weeks ahead of Super Bowl LIII very well, lacking urgency to finalize his gameplan. With all that time on his hands, McVay said he watched a little too much game film of the Patriots, and that came back to hurt him in the end.
"In the back of my mind, [when making the Super Bowl game plan back in L.A.], I operated knowing I had another week. That urgency to completely finalize the gameplan wasn't quite there, and that led to me watching so much film that you can almost water down your thought process," admitted McVay.
"You have so much time that you can over-prepare and get away from some of the things that helped you get there. I watched every game from New England's season. You see stuff that worked in, say, Week 3, but you forget about the amount of stuff that's taken place since Week 3," he added. "You can watch so much film that you lose perspective. You have 18 games of film you can pore over. And then I even watched the Philly and Atlanta Super Bowls closely."
McVay has watched Super Bowl LIII a few times since Los Angeles' season ended in disappointment, and still blames himself for the defeat.
"But you have to give the Patriots credit, they were their best when their best was demanded. And personally, I wasn't good enough. I have to do a better job," he said.