McVay says he over-prepared for Super Bowl by watching too much film

For Sean McVay, having a seemingly photographic memory isn't always a blessing.

Looking back, the Los Angeles Rams head coach says he over-prepared for Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots by diving too deep into his opponent's film history during the two-week lull after the conference title games.

"In the back of my mind, I operated knowing I had another week," McVay said, according to Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated. "That urgency to completely finalize the game plan wasn't quite there, and that led to me watching so much film that you can almost water down your thought process."

McVay added that working through New England's entire campaign - along with the Patriots' two most recent Super Bowl appearances - created an overload of information that clouded his view of the February matchup.

"You have so much time that you can over-prepare and get away from some of the things that helped you get there," McVay said.

"I watched every game from New England's season. You see stuff that worked in, say, Week 3, but you forget about the amount of stuff that's taken place since Week 3. You can watch so much film that you lose perspective. You have 18 games of film you can pore over. And then I even watched the Philly and Atlanta Super Bowls closely."

Aside from learning the dangers of overanalyzing, McVay said his other main takeaway from the Rams' 13-3 defeat in the Super Bowl was to have a greater appreciation for the time on football's biggest stage.

"I think there's a lot to be said for the journey, and I appreciated what the season had entailed," McVay said. "But I could have appreciated the week and entirety of the event more. I kept myself kind of isolated because I didn't want any distraction."