INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Aaron Donald has been around long enough to know he might not get this chance again. The same goes for everybody in the Los Angeles Rams' constellation of stars around him.
Late in his eighth NFL season as the best defensive lineman of his generation, Donald's career is rich with individual honors, but it still lacks the ultimate team success. The Rams have made several bold moves since last season to build a team around Donald more capable of winning it all, and now they're one step away from playing in a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
They host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game Sunday, when a win would bring them back to the same SoFi Stadium for the big game on Feb. 13. The Rams most recently reached the Super Bowl three years ago, when they lost to the New England Patriots.
"I feel like I've accomplished a lot in a short amount of time in this league," said Donald, a seven-time All-Pro and a three-time defensive player of the year. "The only thing I'm lacking now is being a world champion. To get to that point, we've got to win this week."
After crying on the sideline last January when the Rams' season slipped away in Green Bay with a loss to the Packers in the divisional round, Donald is desperate for another shot at checking off that ultimate goal. So are quarterback Matthew Stafford, cornerback Jalen Ramsey, offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. and several other Rams whose otherwise impressive careers don't have that certain championship ring.
"So many teammates on my team, this is really all they need," said linebacker Von Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP with the Denver Broncos and a midseason acquisition for Los Angeles. "Aaron Donald, this is all he needs, and he has the whole shebang, you know? Andrew Whitworth and Eric Weddle and all of these guys, I want to do it for them."
These rivals match up superbly, with both offenses relying heavily on an All-Pro receiver (Deebo Samuel is San Francisco's counterpart to Kupp) and both defenses built around elite, dynamic pass rushers.
But if the Rams don't overcome the 49ers' maddening mastery over them, all their big moves will end in checkmate.
San Francisco has won six consecutive meetings with Los Angeles, and not much in their first two meetings this season suggested Rams coach Sean McVay is close to clearing the monumental mental block separating him from his good friend, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
AP photo by Kyusun Gong / San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) runs with the ball past Los Angeles Rams cornerback Donte' Deayon during the regular-season finale on Jan. 9 in Inglewood, Calif.The 49ers feel a related urgency heading back to SoFi Stadium, where they roared back from an early 17-point deficit and surged to yet another impressive victory over their California and NFC West Division archrivals just three weeks ago - clinching a playoff berth, no less.
In fact, San Francisco might owe its entire season to its domination of the Rams: The 49ers were 3-5 and going nowhere when they routed Los Angeles in mid-November, kicking off their current 9-2 surge.
If the Rams fall again Sunday, the disappointment will be crushing, but Donald thinks they're ready to shoulder the weight.
"This is a different type of football here that's going on this week," he said. "This week, my mindset is there's no way we're going to lose this game. We have to play four quarters. We have to find a way to finish, and I know we're going to do that."
Shanahan has won seven of his 10 meetings with McVay in their concurrent half-decade careers. Preparing for this showdown was no challenge for both coaches, and they say execution will win the NFC title, not trick plays or surprises.
"You know each other so well," Shanahan said. "We knew what the tape was going to look like before we turned it on, and they are the exact same way. We are going to see who makes the most plays and who makes the least mistakes."