Pats vs. Rams Superbowl pre-game analysis

[primetime]

How do you figure the Pats matchup against Donald?

Not well. Nobody matches up well against Donald. He's a force of nature. But Mason can win one-on-one against Suh and the Patriots' tackles have the advantage against their outside rushers. Donald's always going to get a double team, and in the run game they'll wham him. I think they have the offensive line to do well against the Rams' defensive line. The Rams secondary is particularly vulnerable to slot receivers. Larry Fitzgerald, Tyreek Hill, Emmanuel Sanders, Bruce Ellington, and Stefon Diggs all had big games against them this season. Nickell Robey-Coleman is quite bad, Marcus Peters doesn't care, and their safeties are vulnerable. Edelman should feast.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Evan Lazar does a nice job with the breakdown.

Lots to be optimistic about...

Super Bowl Preview: the Patriots Match Up Well Against the Rams | CLNS Media

 

[primetime]

This is one of the three worst teams the Patriots have faced in a Super Bowl. Of course, they lost to those two Giants teams. (Though they're a better team than they were in 2011, too.) Definitely the worst quarterback they've faced, including Eli. Anything can happen but I definitely lean Patriots in this game in a way that I haven't in any Super Bowl since 2007.

Smart bet for long odds on Super Bowl MVP is Cordarrelle Patterson, for what it's worth. Rams special teams coverage is iffy and they're going to want to attack the outside of their defense on jet sweeps. If Patterson can get into space, especially if the person facing him down is Marcus Peters (whose willingness to tackle strongly resembles Chris Canty's) or hold onto the damn ball when he's thrown it, he could have a huge impact in all phases of the game. It's hardly impossible to imagine him emerging with a receiving, rushing, and return touchdown.

 

[VectorPrime]

Evan Lazar does a nice job with the breakdown.

Lots to be optimistic about...

Super Bowl Preview: the Patriots Match Up Well Against the Rams | CLNS Media

I’ve never heard of Evan Lazar. Does he know what he’s talking about?

 

[VectorPrime]

This is one of the three worst teams the Patriots have faced in a Super Bowl. Of course, they lost to those two Giants teams. (Though they're a better team than they were in 2011, too.) Definitely the worst quarterback they've faced, including Eli.

This is what I thought about the Eagles last year

 

[IllegalContact]

I suppose in this case it really means noticeably down....

yeah? can you quantify that? I mean if you're going to pin the difference on one thing, then you should be able to provide the detail

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I’ve never heard of Evan Lazar. Does he know what he’s talking about?

He's been the best Patriots X&O media guy for the last year or two, I'd say. Very solid.

 

[The Brandon Five]

This is one of the three worst teams the Patriots have faced in a Super Bowl. Of course, they lost to those two Giants teams. (Though they're a better team than they were in 2011, too.) Definitely the worst quarterback they've faced, including Eli. Anything can happen but I definitely lean Patriots in this game in a way that I haven't in any Super Bowl since 2007.

Smart bet for long odds on Super Bowl MVP is Cordarrelle Patterson, for what it's worth. Rams special teams coverage is iffy and they're going to want to attack the outside of their defense on jet sweeps. If Patterson can get into space, especially if the person facing him down is Marcus Peters (whose willingness to tackle strongly resembles Chris Canty's) or hold onto the damn ball when he's thrown it, he could have a huge impact in all phases of the game. It's hardly impossible to imagine him emerging with a receiving, rushing, and return touchdown.

Sony Michel has 5 TDs in the Pats two playoff games. He's another candidate for SB MVP.

 

[sb1]

Yeah and people said this about Philly. Carolina was by far the worst SB opponent. Yet that came doen to a fg. Brady & BB don't do SB blowouts. And the Rams interior D is the type that has historically given Brady fits.

The 2011 Giants were by far the worst SB opponent.

 

[VectorPrime]

The 2011 Giants were by far the worst SB opponent.

They blew out a 15-1 Packers team in Green Bay

 

[sb1]

This is what I thought about the Eagles last year

The Patriots defense at the time matched up dreadfully with the RPO game of the Eagles. Jordan Richards ain’t walking through that door.

 

[sb1]

They blew out a 15-1 Packers team in Green Bay

Says a lot about the Packers and not much of it is flattering.

Those Giants gave up more points than they scored. Their passing game was ok but were near the bottom of the league at most other things on both sides of the ball. Had the worst running game in the league.

Fortunately for them thr 2011 Pats weren’t much better.

 

[sb1]

yeah? can you quantify that? I mean if you're going to pin the difference on one thing, then you should be able to provide the detail

Less targets, less catches less yards after compared to before.

Irrelevant. Point is he and the Rams were better with Kupp in there. Which makes sense.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Last year a lot of pregame talk was about blocking the Eagles front and that the Pats could exploit the secondary if Brady had time. Done.

In multiple playoff games against Houston, the talk centered around blocking Watt, Clowney and Marcellus. Done.

This year: Block the Chargers' front? Done. Block the Chiefs' front? Done and done.

I have faith in BB, Scar and this OL to figure something out.

Regards,
Chris

 

[VectorPrime]

Who was more dominate? JJ Watt in his prime when he had two 20.5 sack seasons or Aaron Donald this year with 20.5 sacks?

 

[sb1]

And yet the Pats lost to them.

Yup. Good thing this year's Patriots are much better than that team in almost every way that matters.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Im hoping for more downfield looks to dorsett. Doesn’t have to be bombs but the 2 targets in kc type plays. One obviously worked for a td, the other should have drawn a long pi penalty if the game was called fair. Both plays the defender had to interfere.

We will probably need more chunk plays. As much as I appreciate what the offense did in kc, they did have to convert a pretty crazy % on 3rd downs which I wouldn’t count on consistently.

 

[sb1]

Well on Defense they are better. Offensively? I'd give the nod to 2011. Edelman, Welker, Hernandez/Gronk (Though he was hurt), & Branch. This game won't be a blowout. Coaches on both sides are too good.

They benefited big time from a weak schedule. 0-4 against winning teams during the season. If you're putting 2011 Edelman in a group with Welker, Hernandez/Gronk and Branch at the time then it doesn't sound like you watched a lot of Pats games back then.

The Patriots running game back then was nowhere near what it is today as well. BJGE was as average a back as there was.

 

[Redman443]

The only times Brady lost to Talib the game was in Denver against an all time defense with not only the incredible defensive line but an All-Pro corner in Chris Harris opposite him.

The 2015 Broncos defense was superior at all levels than this year’s Rams defense, full stop. It’s not even close. The only thing that scares me is Aaron’s Donald’s ability to bring interior pressure. Does anyone remember who were the inside guys on the Broncos d-line? Obviously they had Miller and Ware playing like Hall of Famers on the edges.

The counter to this is having the ball a lot, running a lot of plays. Having a ton of snaps. That’s what Clemson did against Alabama. 2016 Alabama had a monster D line but they had tired out so much at the end of the game so it didn’t matter.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Philly's front is the reason they won the SB. Despite giving up 33 points, Graham made the big play.

Regards,

Brandon

Too simplistic. Look at all of the other SBs that the Pats won. The other team still made defensive plays...Atlanta's sacks and forced turnovers, Seattle's interceptions, Philly forcing a Brady fumble in SB39, Carolina forcing an endzone pick in SB38. Just because the Pat's OL didn't pitch a shutout doesn't mean the DL is the reason Philly won last year. I personally think it had a lot more to do with giving up 38 points prior to that play, but maybe that's just me.

Regards
Chris