For the past three years, Jay Gruden and Sean McVay spent endless hours trying to turn the Washington Redskins from bottom-feeders in the NFC East to top of the class in the NFL’s premier division. They struggled at times, but in Year 2, Washington won the East and made the playoffs for just the second time since 2008.

Now, the two will square off for the first time ever with both being head coaches. That’ll happen on Sunday when Gruden’s Redskins pay McVay’s 1-0 Rams a visit in Los Angeles. Both are familiar with the other’s tendencies (to an extent), but McVay is particularly difficult to predict.

That’s part of what makes him such a great coach, according to Gruden.

“He has a great ability to change it up. You don’t know what’s coming,” Gruden said on a conference call Wednesday, per Alden Gonzalez. “He’s just got a great way of changing up the tempos and keeping you off balance.”

McVay’s offense is far different than the one Jeff Fisher drew up for the Rams last season, and it’s part of the reason Los Angeles erupted for 46 points in Week 1 – even if 16 of them did come from the defense. He loves short, quick passes, getting his quarterback into space and opening up the running game with occasional shots downfield.

That part of McVay’s scheme is what Gruden knows. The rest is difficult to pin down.

“That’s what this offense is built around, with quick passes, bootlegs that are friendly for the quarterback, and then obviously staying out of third and long is key,” Gruden added.

It’ll be interesting to see how each team schemes against the other, knowing so many aspects of each offense. The Rams are currently favored by three points over the Redskins after a dominant performance in Week 1.