ATLANTA \u2013 Super Bowl hype is all the same. Let\u2019s just play the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Super Bowl LIII has been sliced, diced, dissected, looked at\nunder a microscope, you name it. The\nPatriots will win because of this. The\nLos Angeles Rams will win because of that. \nBets are being made on everything from what the first score will be to\nwhat the first song will be during the halftime show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now, it\u2019s time to declare that enough is enough. The famous old Boston bartender, Mike\nMcGreevey, had it down pat: \u201cNuf ced!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nuf’ said. Time to play\nfootball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Patriots and Rams will meet for the second time in the\nSuper Bowl. Seventeen years ago, the\nPatriots launched their dynasty with an upset win for the ages. Adam Vinatieri\u2019s walkoff 48-yard field goal\ngave the Patriots a 20-17 win despite being 14 to 17-point underdogs. This time, the Patriots are 2.5-point favorites\nand nowhere near the dogs they were in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they face a strong Rams team, one that was for a while\nthe top seed in the NFC until the New Orleans Saints jumped ahead of them late\nin the season. Both the Rams and\nPatriots got to this game with memorable wins over the respective conference\ntop playoff seeds on the road. The Patriots\nbenefitted from a critical offsides call and a fortuitous coin toss call to\nbeat the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead, 37-31 in overtime. Meanwhile, the Rams were the benefactor of a blatant\nnon-call of pass interference (and other things) against cornerback Nickell\nRobey-Coleman (although New Orleans had chances to win in regulation and\novertime), and a 57-yard walkoff field goal by Greg Zuerlein gave the Rams a\n26-23 overtime win at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, both teams are here in Atlanta. Both teams have completed their\npractices. Both teams are ready for Sunday\nnight\u2019s 6:30 PM EST kickoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for the Patriots, it basically comes down to one of the\nmost time-honored clich\u00e9s in the history of the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run the ball. Stop\nthe run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Patriots can do both, they win the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, the Patriots have been showing a propensity\nfor the run not seen since the days of Craig James and Tony Collins. You can go back further and bring up Sam\n(Bam) Cunningham, Andy Johnson and Don Calhoun. \nThe 1978 Patriots still hold the NFL record for most team yards rushing\nin a season. In 1985, turnovers helped a\ngreat deal, but James gaining 100-plus yards in playoff games made up for the\nanemic passing yards put up by Tony Eason as the Patriots won three road postseason\ngames on their way to Super Bowl XX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, the Patriots have been featuring rookie Sony\nMichel, Rex Burkhead and James White out of the backfield. Add to that the blocking skills of fullback James\nDevelin, who is making all of Patriot Nation forget about Sam Gash, and the\nPatriot running game is the real deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The benefits of establishing the run against the Rams is\nobvious. You run clock and keep Jared\nGoff, Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and all the Rams\u2019 offense off\nthe field, much like the offenses of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Chiefs in\nthe previous playoff games. A potent run\ngame opens up the passing game for Tom Brady, especially in play action. Any way to take physical pressure off Brady,\nJulian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski helps the Patriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Michel has gained over 100 yards rushing in his first two\nplayoff games. Burkhead was the power\nback down the stretch and scored two key touchdowns at Kansas City, one of them\nthe overtime game-winner. White is a\nproven Super Bowl commodity who can catch passes and provide third down flexibility,\neither by rushing or receiving. White was\na first down machine two weeks ago at Kansas City, with his first six touches\nresulting in first downs for the Patriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The key man here is probably Michel. If he can squirt through the line and move\nthe chains, and be around 60-80 yards rushing by halftime, the Patriots will take\nthat and might likely be ahead at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is, assuming someone named Gurley doesn\u2019t gash the\nPatriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bill Belichick will take one key offensive player out of the\ngame for the Rams. That one player will\nlikely be Gurley, or C.J. Anderson if Gurley is either less than one hundred\npercent or simply ineffective. But Gurley,\nwith apologies to Goff, is the most dangerous offensive player the Rams have. Goff is young, the Patriots know Cooks, and\nthe Rams\u2019 tight ends will never be confused with Gronk. Gurley is the key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gurley, who like Michel is a former Bulldog from the\nUniversity of Georgia, is a dangerous threat out of the backfield in both\nrushing and receiving. He is the top\ndraft pick in many fantasy leagues across the country. He alone can take over a game for the Rams\nand dictate how Belichick and Brian Flores run the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Patriots can sell out and stop Gurley, or Denver\ncastoff Anderson, they believe they can stop Goff and the Rams passing game, or\nelse hold it down so that it doesn\u2019t turn out to be problematic. Cooks, who spent last season as a Patriot, is\nfast but brittle, and can be taken out of the game by a physical cornerback. If Stephon Gilmore draws Cooks in coverage, for\nexample, that won\u2019t be a problem. If\nWoods gets the better of J.C. Jackson (assuming Jackson isn\u2019t called for a ton\nof holding or interference calls), the Patriots will have to adjust like they did\nagainst Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX. In\nthat game, Chris Matthews was torching Kyle Arrington, but all that stopped\nwhen they put Brandon Browner on him in the second half. Belichick will be ready for such adjustments,\nassuming no defensive back gets benched for this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if the Patriots can get a big game from Michel, and a big\nstop on Gurley, chances are that duck boats will be needed (again) next\nweek. The fleet was broken out on Halloween\nto celebrate another Boston area conquest over a Los Angeles team. It can happen again<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Patriots run the ball and stop the run. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 that, for the Patriots, can\nhave super consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Super Bowl hype is all the same. Let\u2019s just play the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":21623,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-patriots-playoffs"],"yoast_head":"\n