Super Bowl 53: Final thoughts and question before Patriots/Rams
The New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams will meet today in Super Bowl 53 to determine a champion for the 2018/2019 NFL season.
At long last, we’re finally here.
It’s been two weeks since the New England Patriots knocked off the Kansas City Chiefs in thrilling fashion during a 37-31 overtime road victory in the AFC Championship Game. Two weeks since the Los Angeles Rams also went on the road and knocked off the New Orleans Saints in overtime during a controversial 26-23 NFC Championship Game win.
Two weeks later, we’ve made it to Super Bowl 53. The AFC champion Patriots take on the NFC champion Rams with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm EST at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS, and will be called by Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.
Oh, to know what Romo knows today… the color commentator has demonstrated an uncanny, almost psychic ability while calling games to predict upcoming plays. Patriots fans worldwide are already at the edge of their seats with nervous anticipation, waiting with bated breath to see if their team can capture a record-tying sixth NFL championship.
That number, six, has special significance today.
A win against the Rams, and that will be the number of Lombardi Trophies collected by Tom Brady, Bill Belichick (with New England), and by the Patriots all-time as a franchise. Six championships, and the Pats tie the Steelers atop the NFL hierarchy for most titles ever.
Six could also be a bad number though…
A loss against the Rams, and the Patriots fall to 5-6 all-time in the Super Bowl. Currently, New England is tied with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys for the second-most championships behind Pittsburgh. They’re also tied with the Denver Broncos for a sadder record: the most Super Bowl losses in history, with five apiece. Fall to Los Angeles, and New England becomes the sole owner of that record with six losses altogether.
Clearly, there’s a lot at stake today.
The Patriots will try to attack the Rams with the power-running game that got them this far in the first place. Behind rookie sensation Sony Michel, New England had the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL during the regular season. That could bode well for the Patriots in their matchup against the Rams, who finished a subpar No. 23 in rushing defense on the year.
To be fair, Wade Phillips’ defense has tightened up substantially in the playoffs against the run, holding both the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints beneath 100 yards each.
Still, if Michel can get going and find some running lanes behind his better-than-advertised offensive line, it could be a long day for the Rams and their fans. The Chiefs and the Chargers both experienced the frustration of having their dangerous offenses relegated to the sidelines as the Patriots routinely went on long, clock-killing drives during the first two rounds of the playoffs. New England will want to make it three straight in order to claim a crown.
Offensively, Brady needs to get the ball out as fast as humanly possible in order to take some of the pressure off his protectors up front, who will have their hands full all day with the likes of Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers, and Dante Fowler. The Patriots’ offensive line has played admirably up to this point, but they’ve never faced a line quite like the Rams boast this season.
Defensively, New England needs to make stopping the run their top priority. If they can force the Rams to become one-dimensional and abandon the run game, it transfers all the weight of the Super Bowl to quarterback Jared Goff and head coach Sean McVay. McVay is an absolute genius offensively, so he should have contingency plans aplenty ready if he needs them, should his top runners (Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson) find the sledding tough against the Pats up front.
Goff is another story though. While not exactly streaky, the word that comes to mind immediately to describe him is “inexperienced.” It doesn’t help that he’s squaring off against a quarterback almost twice his age who’s been here eight times before already; but even more than that, Goff really only has two solid seasons under his belt.
His rookie year was a rocky affair, mired in Jeff Fisher mediocrity and underwhelming performances. While he’s seemingly turned the page and reinvented himself as a top-tier quarterback in McVay’s system, it remains to be seen whether Goff is really truly that good, or if he is just a product of that system.
Next. What are the keys to a Patriots victory?. dark
If it’s the former, the Rams have a great chance to upset the Patriots and bring a football championship back to Los Angeles in just their third season since returning to the city. If it’s the latter, however, one could easily expect Bill Belichick’s defensive prowess to cancel out McVay’s offensive ingenuity. And if that happens, it falls on Goff and perhaps Goff alone to show the world he’s capable of improvising and flourishing under the brightest lights imaginable.
Game on!