The Los Angeles Rams haven’t played the Green Bay Packers since 2018, but the teams’ head coaches know each other very well.
The Packers’ Matt LaFleur was hired in 2017 to be the Rams offensive coordinator during Sean McVay’s first season as head coach.
The pair helped turn the franchise around. After the team finished with a 4-12 record one year earlier, the Rams won their division in 2017.
The offense went from the league’s worst in scoring to the league’s best, and one year later, the team would be in the Super Bowl.
LaFleur would miss that Super Bowl appearance though, having already departed in 2018 for a job with the Tennessee Titans.
Now, the two coaches will meet Saturday for a chance to take their teams to the NFC Championship game on Jan. 24.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
“He’s a great coach. He’s a great friend of mine. I’m so happy to see that success and you know it’s pretty crazy that we’re getting an opportunity to play against one another,” McVay said.
Led by their defense, the Rams survived Saturday’s wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks but will face a much tougher challenge against the top-seeded Packers in Green Bay, where the temperature will be near or below freezing on Saturday.
Still, McVay believes his team can be successful. “We’ll see if we can get after Matt a little bit. It will be fun,” McVay said.