The most recent sack had come from Durant himself on a blitz from the slot that left Darnold spinning out of the pocket to no avail. Durant dragged him down, untouched, in 3.58 seconds, the fourth-fastest sack of the Wild Card round, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Rams weren’t just getting pressure, they were getting it decisively and in different ways, as L.A. set a new season-high with nine sacks, and four came on either third or fourth down.

“There was match ups that we liked, and I think the biggest thing for us is not really about the other team,” said outside linebacker Michael Hoecht. “It’s about playing within our scheme and structure, trusting each other to be in the right spots and be on time. The way this group has come from where we started the year to now, we just have a really good feeling of timing and tempo and playing together.”

They certainly did play together, and in a historic fashion. The Rams’ eight players with at least 0.5 sacks in a game is the most since 1982, when those stats started being tracked, and their six sacks on Darnold in the first half were the most taken by any QB in the first half of a playoff game in the last 25 years. It was the definition of a group effort from the dynamic, young front.

Defensive end Kobie Turner lived in the backfield with five pressures (according to PFF) and two sacks. Young registered 1.5 sacks and four pressures, Verse generated six and Hoecht added four and a sack of his own. Rookie defensive ends Braden Fiske (0.5 sacks) and Keir Thomas both had two pressures apiece, while veteran nose tackle Neville Gallimore had 1.5 sacks on two pressures.

Going into the week, Verse said the edge rushers focused on working past chips. That paid off, as three edge rushers had at least a half sack, but Verse wasn’t one of them.

“I was like, ‘it’s a sack party and I am not invited,” Verse said.

Shula, a first-year defensive coordinator and the grandson of all-time great NFL coach Don Shula, schemed up a completely dominant game plan in his first-ever playoff game. After future Hall of Fame defensive end Aaron Donald retired this past offseason, the defensive line was an unknown commodity entering the season. On Monday, they tied the NFL record for sacks in a postseason game with Donald looking on from the stands.

“It’s simple,” Verse said. “We just had to show him he left it in good hands.”