Extreme Ownership Lessons on Christmas Day - Rams vs. Broncos

When you read a captivating book on leadership, Christmas Day games between two teams eliminated from the playoffs, can shockingly turn into a real attention grabber. I expected the score between the #DenverBroncos and the #LARams, to be a boring 9 - 6 punt fest. Instead I was captivated by a 51 - 14 shellacking of the Broncos by the Rams. This game demonstrated 2 leaders, Sean McVay of the Rams and Nathaniel Hackett of the Broncos. To be fair, I do not know either of these men, other than what you see in the media and results they've produced on the field. To be blunt, this game powerfully demonstrated the leadership concept taught by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin , there are "no bad teams, only bad leaders".

Let's set the stage. Sean McVay's resume is well documented but for the few who don't know let's list some of his accomplishments. When he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 he was the youngest head coach in the modern era of the National Football League (NFL) . Clearly they saw something more than his age and football knowledge. He has gone to coach in 2 Super Bowls, winning one. Up until this year, he had 5 straight winning seasons with no losing seasons and a .679 winning percentage. His playoff record was 7 - 3, a .700 winning percentage. By all measures he is seen as a football savant, with all the offensive wizardry of the best of the best in the NFL, but he clearly is so much more.

This year has been a bit different. As of yesterday, the Rams were 4 - 9, suffering the worst season of McVay's career. They have lost practically their entire starting offensive line to injuries. Going into yesterday's game, they were tied for the league worst (with the Denver Broncos Football Club ) in number of sacks given up. This led to their star quarterback Matthew Stafford being sidelined for the season with a spinal cord contusion and their backup John Wofford out with a neck injury. Additionally their Super Bowl MVP wide receiver Cooper Krupp out for the season with a foot injury. The result is an offense that ranks 2nd to last in the NFL in total yards per game.

Now let's take a quick look at Nathaniel Hackett. To be clear, I'm a huge fan and fellow 美国加州大学戴维斯分校 alum. Until today, this was his first season as the head coach of the Broncos. He was a celebrated hire with a long football pedigree and much success as the Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator, leading them in 2020 to the best scoring offense. There was much hope for the 2022 season following the acquisition of superstar quarterback and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. They came into this season with the 8th ranked defense in total yards allowed. This season they've improved to 5th ranked defense in total yards allowed. By all measures, there were high hopes for this team to succeed in 2022.

Coming into yesterday's football game, what should have been a Christmas classic of two teams that, on paper at the beginning of the season, should have been fighting for playoff spots, but instead shared dismal losing records of 4 - 10. Given that the Rams had a quarterback that no one else seems to want, in Baker Mayfield, and a terrible offense decimated by injuries, I very much expected the Broncos to hold the Rams to a boring low scoring affair. Instead one of the worst 2022 offenses destroyed one of the best 2022 defenses with the 51 - 14 outcome.

As I watched this game, I saw a contrast in leadership styles. You don't have to listen to too many Sean McVay interviews to know what an eternal optimist he is. Even with a terrible season in the books he was hopeful and an optimistic. Take a look at his pre-game comments found here. He states, "(y)ou have to continually remind yourself of that focus on right where those small victories, where those things that you’re seeing, that improvement.?When you look at it as a coach your job is to help give clarity of the players that help them play at their highest potential and try to put them in a good spot. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do for the last three weeks remaining in the season." Players love playing for this man and they never gave up.

Whereas the Nathaniel Hackett and the Denver Broncos, looked like a complete dumpster fire. How can a coach with an excellent offensive pedigree have such a horrible offensive performance? After almost an entire season Russell Wilson looks as bad as ever. Per Jared Dubin of CBS Sports , "(t)hrough three quarters, Wilson averaged -0.56 EPA per dropback, the fourth-worst mark of any qualifying quarterback in any game this season." To make matters worse, back-up quarterback Brett Rypien goes on to verbally attack the offensive line for allowing 6 sacks on the day, resulting in a sideline shoving match between him and offensive lineman Dalton Risner. I'm not saying Russell Wilson isn't on the backside of his career and in decline, but honestly the Rams brought a QB that no one seems to want, 3 weeks of learning a new playbook and destroyed them. Both teams went into yesterday's game with same amount of sacks on the season and yet yesterday the Rams had 6 and the Broncos 0. Interceptions the Broncos came into the game having 14 defensive takeaways to the Rams10, yet the Rams had 4 yesterday and the Broncos 0. The stats, the sidelines and the eyeball test told me that the Broncos quit on Hackett while the Rams players rallied around McVay.

This brings me to what Jocko Willink and Leif Babin teach in their book "Extreme Ownership: How US Navy Seals Lead and Win". In chapter one they highlight that "on any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes, and admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win." I'm not saying Hackett blamed others, but clearly his team leaders were fighting with one another. This demonstrates to me a culture of blame. "The leader's attitude sets the tone for the entire team. The leader drives performance - or doesn't. And this applies not just to the most senior leader of an overall team, but to the junior leaders of teams within the team." I have to ask myself when looking at the Broncos, did they believe in themselves and their leader? Did they believe the could win that game? I think the results speak for themselves and unfortunately Nathaniel Hackett is now looking for a job.

This is not a full accounting of this book, as I'm only on chapter 2. I love their concept of the "Tortured Genius...(who) accepts zero responsibility for mistakes, makes excuses, and blames everyone else for their failings (and those on their team). In their mind, the rest of the world just can't see or appreciate the genius in what they are doing." I have seen this played out in my life and in my thinking. Thinking of myself more highly than I ought to, has led me into some dark corners. I've learned early in my career to fall on my sword quickly when problems arise and to own both the problem and the solution. By so doing, the people we lead can identify and trust us for being genuine. People trust those who are more like themselves rather than the gods of their own making. Trust breads collaboration that then breads solutions that at first weren't there. I find this formula to be highly effective in the teams I help lead. In the end we all experience failure, but when it happens what do you do with it? What will Nathaniel Hackett do with it? I can't wait to find out. Go Aggies!