This Sunday will be the third straight trip to the Superbowl for the New England Patriots and the first since 2000 for the Los Angeles Rams. Both teams narrowly earned the right to compete on Sunday; nonetheless, there are multiple reasons why this should be an instant classic between the two.
The Rams have officially restored NFL football to Los Angeles. They have constructed a roster and coaching staff that should keep them sustainable for the foreseeable future, but will all that be enough to stop the Brady-Belichick regime on Sunday?
The Patriots have a lot of meaningful experience on both sides of the ball, especially at the quarterback position. However, that shouldn't take away from the talent that the Rams are bringing into Mercedes-Benz stadium. L.A has built one of the most impressive rosters in a long time. For starters, they have the best defensive line in football. Right now Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in the NFL, along with Ndamkung Suh on the interior, and Donte Fowler Jr on edge. The Patriots are going to have to get the ball out quickly to avoid a rough day for Tom Brady.
L.A's defense is complimented with an offense that can get the job done, but at times looks defeated. The Rams were much better offensively before they lost Yakima native Cooper Kupp for the season with a torn ACL. They struggled to get points on the board early against New Orleans and had to claw their way to a victory. If the Rams get off to another slow start on Sunday, the Patriots might take full advantage and run up the score.
Los Angeles did what so many franchises fail to do. They went all in on their championship window, now they're here, but standing in front of them is the five-time Superbowl champion, Tom Brady. If it weren't for a coin flip, we might be having an entirely different conversation right now.
As soon as Brady had the first possession of overtime against the Chiefs, we knew that he'd be chasing his sixth Superbowl ring.
It's the same narrative with this Patriots team as it was the last two years. Old and slow are the words used the most when talking about their chances of making it for a third straight year, but again we were all proven wrong. Whether you're rooting for the Rams or the Patriots, you have to
appreciate what New England has been able to do over the last twenty years. Plus, seeing Brady hoist up his sixth Lombardi trophy would be pretty incredible.
All in all, Sunday should be fun. Let's hope that we don't have another great game impacted by bad officiating.
