One of the biggest storylines ahead of the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams is the tactical matchup between two of the top coaches in the NFL today in Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.

At the moment, Shanahan and the 49ers hold the upper hand over the Rams considering how San Francisco has won all six of their previous meetings against LA. Rams coach Sean McVay was recently asked what he thought about the notion of Shanahan being in his head as they prepare for Sunday's bout. McVay responded with a resounding no:

“No,” McVay said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “What I do have is respect for these guys. They’ve done a great job. You look at it, you’ve got to play well in that three-and-a-half hour window that we’re allotted. You look at the last time we played them — didn’t finish the game. But this is a really good football team. We have a lot of respect for them, but we’re competing and preparing to the best of our ability to see if we can advance. But this is a really good team. Kyle’s an excellent coach. He’s got great players, great coaches, good schemes, so that’s why they’re in the NFC Championship.”

McVay was referencing his Rams' Week 18 loss to the 49ers wherein LA disappointingly gave up a 17-point lead. McVay appears to have set their embarrassing record against the Niners aside as the Rams head into the most important game of their season thus far.

In a separate press conference, Shanahan was also asked about the notion of living in McVay's head. The 49ers coach had quite a surprising response as he moved to downplay the role of coaches in the game:

“A question like that is just giving Sean and myself way too much credit,” Shanahan said, via Josh Alper of PFT. “We’re coaches. Watch what’s going on on that field and some of the players out there and the people that are competing and think that it’s about Sean and I — I mean. I know he doesn’t feel that way and he knows I don’t feel that way. The entertainment of this business is cool and stuff because It brings a lot of fans and it brings a lot of money for everybody. I think that’s pretty ridiculous. I don’t give coaches that much credit.”

While Kyle Shanahan does have a valid point here, it seems that he's playing down the role coaches play in games a bit too much. It's absolutely true that it's the players who take the field to risk and life and limb just to have a shot of winning a ballgame, but it's also a fact that coaches play an undeniably important role on the sidelines. This is especially true for a game of this magnitude with the NFC title on the line.

Records will mean nothing come Sunday with both the 49ers' and the Rams' seasons on the line. It all boils down to a single, 60-minute game that will have the winners take all the glory, as well as a coveted trip to the Super Bowl. The losing team, on the other hand, will head into the offseason in utter disappointment. What we can say for sure is that neither of these two coaches will want to be on that side of the fence once the final whistle is blown.