As we approached this weekend last year, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady found himself in a familiar position: he was a defending Super Bowl champion favored to win his sixth title against a backup quarterback making just his fourth start in the last two seasons. That backup quarterback, Philadelphia legend Nick Foles, led his team to a championship last February, as the Eagles defeated New England by a score of 41-33.
Now, the Patriots face third-year quarterback Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams, hoping to secure the team’s third title in five years.
They won’t.
The Los Angeles Rams, after upsetting the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome on January 20th, will continue their run towards the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory.
The Los Angeles Rams were a Super Bowl pick right from the get-go in the NFC. They won their first eight games of the 2018 season, taking the conference’s top seed into a week nine loss in New Orleans. They, like the Patriots, would settle for the second seed in their conference as the playoffs began.
After dispatching the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round on January 12, Goff and Los Angeles’s defense returned to the Superdome for a rematch with future Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees and the Saints on January 20. Hours before the Patriots punched their ticket to Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII in overtime, the Rams got the trend going with an overtime victory of their own.
New England rattled off six consecutive wins after a 1-2 start to the season, including victories in games against the playoff-bound Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears. The Patriots stumbled a bit as the regular season came to a close, going just 4-3 to finish off the 16-game slate, but still earned a first-round playoff bye.
On January 13, Brady picked apart the Los Angeles Chargers in a 41-28 drubbing in the second round of this year’s AFC bracket that was significantly more one-sided than the score might indicate, and Bill Belichick’s team ventured to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City to face the Chiefs.
On Championship Sunday, the Patriots won in dramatic fashion after the teams traded touchdowns in the final minutes of regulation and – with a fair amount of luck – New England marched down the field in overtime to seal their third consecutive Super Bowl berth.
This Super Bowl is representative of a changing of the guard in the NFL. Brady (now 41 years of age) and Belichick (66), symbolize the elder statesmen of the NFL’s most prolific dynasty in decades that could be approaching its sunset. Goff (24) and McVay (33) are part of the league’s youth movement, bringing in dynamic new strategies to overwhelm the league and create a powerhouse on the west coast that could rival what the Patriots have built over the last two decades.
While the defenses of the Chargers and Chiefs are nothing to blink at, Josh McDaniels’ offense has yet to face a test akin to that of the Rams’ secondary. Led by DTs Ndamukong Suh and MVP candidate Aaron Donald and featuring key downfield role-players such as CBs Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, Los Angeles’ defensive prowess will play a huge part in stopping the seemingly infallible Brady.
On the other side of the ball, Goff’s arm has often played second-fiddle to the blitzkrieg of a run game operated by running backs Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson. The Rams set a franchise playoff record in their game against Dallas with a whopping 273 yards on the ground, and didn’t stop the ground attack against New Orleans. Gurley and Anderson are primed and ready to go against New England’s defense.
New England’s defense has allowed nearly 30 points per game in these playoffs, and while their offense has made up for their defensive struggles with strong performances from WR Julian Edelman – who served a four-game suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs earlier this season – and RB Sony Michel, these strong offensive presences haven’t faced off against a defense as strong as that of Los Angeles.
This game will be close early on, a good sign for Brady, Belichick, and the Patriots. I’m predicting a four-point New England lead of 14-10 at halftime, before Gurley and Anderson get into a rhythm in the second half to seal Super Bowl LIII for the Rams.
The World Series featured the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Super Bowl will see the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams go at it.
One can only hope the NBA Finals this June has a matchup other than the Celtics and Lakers.
Prediction: 34-27, Los Angeles over New England.
