Sunday, February 3, 2019

SUPER BOWL LIII





Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, GA

Kickoff between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots is within 90 minutes today on CBS




I’m going to keep this short and sweet

The Rams were one of the best teams in the NFC throughout the regular season. Running back Todd Gurley played in 14 games but led the league in rushing touchdowns with 17. Even though Gurley was limited in the playoffs, CJ Anderson – who was on the Broncos 2015 Super Bowl team – was big in the Rams divisional round win against Dallas.

Aaron Donald won his second consecutive defensive player of the year. He led the NFL with 20.5 sacks. Another connection to the Broncos 2015 team is defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. In the AFC Championship game that year, the Broncos kept the pressure on Tom Brady throughout the game. In the pre-game show, the Broncos linebacker corps led by Von Miller said that if they sack Brady three times, they would win the game.

They got to Brady four times in a 20-18 win at Denver and followed it up with a win over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

But…

The Patriots can counter the Rams defensive line with their offensive line. In their two playoff games – against the Chargers with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram – and their overtime win over the Chiefs who led the league with 52 sacks, Brady was only knocked down once.

While the Rams running game is celebrated, the Patriots can run the ball just as well too. This run-heavy strategy worked against the Chargers and Chiefs keeping Phillip Rivers and league MVP Patrick Mahomes on the sideline respectively. In both games, the Patriots ran the ball for over 30 carries for over 150 yards. In their overtime win at Kansas City, this strategy kept Mahomes on the sideline for 21 minutes.

And it is still the Brady and Belichick show in New England

I just cannot see the Patriots losing back-to-back Super Bowls


PATRIOTS 34, RAMS 24
MVP: Tom Brady, QB
NON-QB MVP: James White, RB

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