BY: Tony LiebertThis year's NFL season has been nothing short of entertaining. The playoffs have came in gone with a lot of excitement and controversy and now it's time for the Super Bowl. Super Bowl LII, Sunday, February 3rd - 5:30 P.M. Los Angeles Rams V.S. New England Patriots LOS ANGELES RAMS Last season the Rams finished 11-5 and lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the playoffs while having, the coach of the year and the start of a great young football team led by second year QB Jared Goff. In the offseason the Rams decided that they wanted to go "all in" for this season... Literally ALL IN. They made a lot of moves. TRADED ILB ALEC OGLETREE Rams Received: 2018 fourth-round pick, 2018 sixth-round pick Giants Received: Linebacker Alec Ogletree and 2019 seventh-round pick TRADED DE ROBERT QUINN: Rams Received: 2018 fourth-round pick, 2018 sixth-round pick Dolphins Received: Defensive end Robert Quinn, 2018 sixth-round pick EXTENDED RB TODD GURLEY The Rams signed Gurley to a four-year contract extension worth up to $57.5 million with $45 million guaranteed. CHOSE DB LAMARCUS JOYNER OVER WR SAMMY WATKINS The Rams franchise-tagged safety Joyner for one year at $11.3 million and let Watkins walk in free agency. RE-SIGNED C JOHN SULLIVAN The Rams signed Sullivan to a two-year, $10.75 million contract with $5.25 million guaranteed. TRADED FOR CB MARCUS PETERS Rams Received: Cornerback Marcus Peters, 2018 sixth-round pick Chiefs Received: 2019 second-round pick, 2018 fourth-round pick TRADED FOR CB AQIB TALIB Rams Received: Cornerback Aqib Talib Broncos Received: 2018 fifth-round pick SIGNED FREE AGENT CB SAM SHIELDS The Rams signed cornerback Sam Shields to a one-year, $1 million deal. TRADED FOR (AND EXTENDED) WR BRANDIN COOKS Rams Received: Receiver Brandin Cooks, 2018 fourth-round pick Patriots Received: 2018 first-round pick, 2018 sixth-round pick The Rams then extended Cooks at $16 million annually for five years, this was exact annual value that Sammy Watkins got for three years in Kansas City. SIGNED FREE AGENT DT NDAMUKONG SUH The Rams signed Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $14 million deal. EXTENDED DT AARON DONALD The Rams signed Aaron Donald to a six-year extension worth as much as $135 million, with $86.9 million guaranteed. I could obviously tell you that each of these moves were, genius and the Rams are so smart, but they really just got all of the good players that were available, and extended the good players they already had.... and their in the Super Bowl now, so it definitely worked. This season, the Rams' strength is their dynamic offense. Their offense is led by All-Pro running back Todd Gurley, who has 1,800+ total yards from offense and 27 total touchdowns. Gurley in the playoffs has not been the same running back, he only has 131 total yards and two touchdowns in two games. During Gurley's struggles newly acquired RB C.J. Anderson has stepped in and given the Rams productive carries. He has 493 total yards from scrimmage in the last four games for the Rams. And the Rams will try to establish their running game on Sunday. To go along with their elite level running game the Rams also have have one of the most talented passing attacks in the league. Led by California born third year quarterback Jared Goff who is surrounded by athletic receivers, Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods. The Rams did loose talented slot receiver Cooper Kupp to a torn ACL earlier in the season, which has proven to slightly slow down their offense. The Rams will look to get their receivers the ball in all the ways possible, jet sweeps, on the outside, and obviously deep balls. I expect Sean McVay to throw some new wrinkles at Bill Belichick and the Patriots. On the other side of the ball the Rams have one of the most talented defenses in the league. They're led by their defensive line, Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers, and Dante Fowler Jr. They also have very athletic linebackers, Cory Littleton and Mark Barron. Lastly they have one of the most talented defensive backfields in the league which includes, corners Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, and ball hawking safety LaMarcus Joyner. The Rams will obviously look to slow down the Patriots veteran offense. The difference in this game and every football game is lineman play. The Rams offensive line is experienced and talented. They are headlined by 13 year veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who is coming off his first two career playoff wins, and can handle any pass rusher the Patriots throw at him. The Rams also have veteran center John Sullivan, talented guards Rodger Saffold, and Austin Blythe, lastly the Rams have talented right tackle Rob Havenstein. I expect the big dogs up front to show up in the big game. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS The Patriots come off of a season where they lost to Nick Foles and the Eagles in last years Super Bowl. They obviously weren't too happy about that. The Patriots are always going "all in" so they really only had two big moves in the offseason. They traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the... Rams which clearly hurt their passing game and improved LA's. Their other big move was the selection of running back Sony Michel in the first round of the NFL draft. Michel has dramatically improved the Patriots running game, and helped people forget about their sub-par passing game. The strongest part of the Patriots offense is their running game. Sony Michel, in games where he has been healthy and received a full workload he has average 94 yards a game. Where he had gotten 11 touchdowns in those games. Over the past couple of weeks Rex Burkhead has been integrated into the game very strongly and given the Patriots quality carries. Even utility man Cordarrelle Patterson has given the Pats great run. The Patriots running game is able to be productive due to their strong offensive line. Led by tackles, Marcus Cannon and Trent Brown, guards, Shaq Mason and Joe Thuney, and lastly center David Andrews. I expect New England's running game to be a big part of Sunday's matchup. The Patriots passing game has been one of the weakest in the "Brady Belichick era." Don't get me wrong Tom Brady is still playing at an elite level and especially in the playoffs. But weapons of Julian Edelman, and banged up Gronk, and Chris Hogan is not very intriguing. A large part in the Patriots passing game has been James White. White had a game earlier in the playoffs where he tied the record for most receptions in a single playoff game with 15 catches. IF the Patriots can get their passing game going, they will always be tough to beat. I think the strongest part of the Patriots team is their defense. Their defense is led by cornerback Stephon Gilmore who led the NFL this season in pass breakups. They also have the McCourty twins Devin and Jason lurking in the defensive backfield. They next have underrated linebacker Kyle Van Noy, and veteran one Dont'a Hightower, lastly their defensive line is led by under the radar pass rusher Trey Flowers. I think the Patriots defense is extremely underrated and it will be a deciding factor in this game. PREDICTION The biggest deciding factor in this game will be offensive line play. I expect the Rams' veteran led offensive line to be able to handle the underrated Patriots defense. I also believe that the Rams elite defensive line will be too much to handle for the relatively average Patriots O-Line. Due to that C.J. Anderson and Todd Gurley will be able to get going and the Rams offense will be firing on all cylinders. I think the Patriots wildly mediocre passing attack will struggle against the Rams ball hawking corners and the Patriots will struggle to get going. I expect the G.O.A.T to be able to keep the game close but the Rams will still outlast the Patriots. Rams: 30 Patriots: 21
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May 2020
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