The meltdown coming out of halftime happened, and now the Rams’ defense was responding in a very big way. Over the Bengals’ next four possessions L.A. yielded just one first down. On the sideline, amongst the guys pulling that off, there was eerie calm; defensive coordinator Raheem Morris described it as similar to what you’d see around a pitcher throwing a no-hitter. It was quiet. No one dared look at the big picture and risk putting the stakes ahead of the next play.
Maybe, deep down, Morris had a feeling it was coming. Maybe the other Rams defenders did, too, since Aaron Donald seemed to find his voice and became more vocal as a leader during the playoffs. Regardless, Donald’s timing—as it would be with the biggest plays in the biggest game of them all—was flawless.
When Matthew Stafford hit Cooper Kupp for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 left, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year jumped up off the bench like a rocket was shot up his rear end. Morris could hear him coming, “letting everyone know this is our moment, this is our time, get ready to stand up.” And as Donald made his way through, looking each one of his defensive teammates in the eye, Morris knew exactly what to do. It was time for him, and his coaches, to get the hell out of the way.
“[Donald] walked up and down the bench, and to me, as a coach, when you see that, him talking to all the guys, that’s when you know, ,” Morris said Friday. “You feel like you can’t do anything wrong when you have that. To have that feeling basically throughout the playoffs and be as calm as I was able to be because of it, because of these guys, how they reacted, and how they played, how they communicated with each other. Even though we might have given up something where it’s like, ”
It was the ultimate in what a coach aspires to have—the definition of a player-led team.
“As he’s walking the sideline, I can see him coming, I don’t even want to hear what he’s saying, because I know it’s impactful,” Morris continues. “And it’s way more impactful than anything I would’ve done, it’s way more impactful than if Sean McVay had done it. When players do it, and do it for each other, it’s everything you dream about as a coach.”
To be sure, there was brilliance in the plan Morris put together to combat Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ explosive offense a week ago. There were little things he noticed on tape, and in what Cincinnati said during the two-week run-up to the game. There were adjustments made during a 10-minute halftime staff meeting that paid off for the Rams in a very big way. We’re going to get to all of that. But the true genius in the job Morris and his defensive coaches did in shutting the Bengals out over the final 25 minutes of the Super Bowl is simpler than any of it. Really, it was just knowing when it was time to let their players take over.
