Rams’ GM Les Snead: Fitting NFC championship was ‘somewhat of a defensive grind’

For a week, the conversation was all about the offenses. And why not?

The Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints had two of the better offenses in the NFL during the regular season.

‘I give John Johnson (credit) … that’s a fade-away interception this guy just made’

But when it came to overtime of the NFC Championship Game, it was a defensive play that made the difference in the Rams’ 26-23 victory that sent them to Super Bowl LIII to face the New England Patriots. It began when, on second-and-16 from the Saints’ 34, Dante Fowler Jr., hit Drew Brees as he let go of a pass for Michael Thomas. The ball hung in the air and safety John Johnson was able to make the interception that set up Greg Zuerlein’s winning 57-yard field goal.

”Well, the cliches, one play at a time, it’s a boring answer, but that’s truly the definition of that.”

“It’s fitting that two of the top offenses in the NFL, it ends up being somewhat of a defensive grind,” Rams General Manager Les Snead told Jim Miller of SiriusXM NFL Radio. “But that’s playoff football and the defense had to make a play there. They got the ball first. And you know what, Dante made a play. And I give John Johnson (credit) … that’s a fade-away interception this guy just made.”

‘You’ve got to win more downs than they do and you don’t ever know which order they’re going to come’

The Rams showed plenty of mental toughness throughout, something that Snead was quick to praise.

“Well, the cliches, one play at a time, it’s a boring answer, but that’s truly the definition of that because you’ve got to win more downs than they do and you don’t ever know which order they’re going to come into,” Snead said. “If they win the first 10, you got to recover. We talked about it Sean (McVay) talks about it all the time. He talked about it (Saturday) night at the team meeting, he talked about it before the game and a halftime.”