49ers vs. Rams: Why history repeats itself in NFC Championship game

Reason No. 2: Kyle Shanahan owns Sean McVay

The recent history of San Francisco’s dominance over the Rams is embodied no better than in the relationship between 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and LA’s head coach, Sean McVay.

McVay and Shanahan are friends and worked together back on the Washington Redskins’ offensive staff. Additionally, both are offensive play-calling head coaches who run different variations of a scheme developed by Shanahan’s father, Mike Shanahan.

In an excellent piece for The Ringer, Benjamin Solak breaks down how the two schemes of these coaches have evolved over their time as rival head coaches.

Solak credits Kyle Shanahan for being able to adapt a bit more than McVay has over the years, and he also noted how Shanahan change up his scheme to deal with the different ways defenses choose to attack his offense.

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Solak clearly believes Shanahan is the better coach, and it might just be true.

There certainly is some truth to the significance of the relationship between these two head coaches. Both have had wild success, but somewhere in the back of McVay’s mind is a constant reminder that he often seems outmatched against his friend and former boss Shanahan.

McVay is 3-7 against Shanahan dating back to 2017.