When these two teams met last, it was a high-profile Sunday Night Matchup and New England had everything in their favor ? Home crowd in a night game, all the Rams speed limited on the grass. St. Louis won by 7 but did not cover.
The stats from the game don?t show the game being that close
-First Downs
St. Louis 26 New England 13
-Total Yards
St. Louis 482 New England 230
-Yards per Rush
St. Louis 3.1 New England 2.6
-Yards per Pass
St. Louis 9.2 New England 6.2
-5 Rams (4 defense) were injured in the game and did not return.
-New England returned a 52 yard interception return and another interception led to a field goal (albeit after the Pats moved the ball 40 yards).
The Rams come into this game off of a game playing against the as fast a defense as was in the playoffs. And while they didn?t cover, they only were forced to punt 3 times (once after they took a knee.) St. Louis was also forced out of their game because they had to rely on the run more than they would like due to that being the Eagles weakness. The Eagles were able to stop the run in the playoffs, but that was more due to the fact that Brad Johnson and Shane Matthews weren?t able to provide a deep threat and the Eagles were able to keep their defensive backs up tight. The Rams offense is so powerful that even a banged up Warner proved to be risky to blitz against that the Eagles only blitzed him 8 out of the 35 times that he went back to pass. The Eagles afraid to blitz?
The Patriots did beat the Steelers who had the best running game that I have seen since the Cowboys in the early 90s and they shut it down. But when you see Bettis taking pitches and trying to get outside and Amos Zeroue getting only 4 touches after he pounded the Ravens, you have to make the coaches accountable. Cowher panicked and abandoned the run without even trying it without Bettis. The Patriots got two special teams touchdowns and have now scored a total of two touchdowns in the playoffs with their offense. The balls rolling their way right now, but I don?t think that there?s a team in the league who would feel that they didn?t have a chance against the Patriots. Not only are they not the best team in the AFC, they may not be the best team in their division.
It seems redundant to say, but the Rams have too much speed, their 4 receiver sets will get them the matchups that they want and the Patriots have no one to cover Faulk out of the backfield. Knowing that the Rams will score a ton makes the 14 seem manageable, especially in a Super Bowl. It has always been a game where there is no letdown and a killer instinct is present in times where the game hangs in the balance. We?ve seen before when teams that win ugly, that slop up the game enough and then have the poise to win at the end, play a team that they are inferior too get behind and press. The results are ugly.
While I am very aware that I am on the public?s side here, it doesn?t bother me at all as the public owns the Super Bowl. Big teams play big and also-rans show their colors.
Concerns:
The Rams have had a cavalier attitude to turnovers in the past and if New England can get a turnover and hang with the Rams for a half, this game may go down to the wire. However, I see the Rams have changed their attitude with the benching of Az Hakim and Candidate on returns. Martz no longer is finding turnovers acceptable. In the playoff games, the Rams have turned the ball over 1 time. In their only two losses this season, they were a combined ?10 (13 ? 3) in the turnover battle. If the Rams don?t lose the turnover battle by more than 2, they will cover.
As bad as the Pats offense looked against Pittsburgh, they showed tremendous poise when the Steelers cut the deficit to 4. The Pats drove right down the field, when a lesser team would have imploded. That poise will be needed if the Rams get on top early.
I mentioned above that the Rams lost 5 players in the game with the Patriots before. Not all can be blamed on bad luck. While I think that the Rams have shown that their soft label doesn?t hold merit, a team gets a reputation for a reason. The Patriots may be able to hault the crossing patterns with a few heavy hits, but Warner doesn?t usually hang his receivers out to dry.
The Lou -14 5 units
The stats from the game don?t show the game being that close
-First Downs
St. Louis 26 New England 13
-Total Yards
St. Louis 482 New England 230
-Yards per Rush
St. Louis 3.1 New England 2.6
-Yards per Pass
St. Louis 9.2 New England 6.2
-5 Rams (4 defense) were injured in the game and did not return.
-New England returned a 52 yard interception return and another interception led to a field goal (albeit after the Pats moved the ball 40 yards).
The Rams come into this game off of a game playing against the as fast a defense as was in the playoffs. And while they didn?t cover, they only were forced to punt 3 times (once after they took a knee.) St. Louis was also forced out of their game because they had to rely on the run more than they would like due to that being the Eagles weakness. The Eagles were able to stop the run in the playoffs, but that was more due to the fact that Brad Johnson and Shane Matthews weren?t able to provide a deep threat and the Eagles were able to keep their defensive backs up tight. The Rams offense is so powerful that even a banged up Warner proved to be risky to blitz against that the Eagles only blitzed him 8 out of the 35 times that he went back to pass. The Eagles afraid to blitz?
The Patriots did beat the Steelers who had the best running game that I have seen since the Cowboys in the early 90s and they shut it down. But when you see Bettis taking pitches and trying to get outside and Amos Zeroue getting only 4 touches after he pounded the Ravens, you have to make the coaches accountable. Cowher panicked and abandoned the run without even trying it without Bettis. The Patriots got two special teams touchdowns and have now scored a total of two touchdowns in the playoffs with their offense. The balls rolling their way right now, but I don?t think that there?s a team in the league who would feel that they didn?t have a chance against the Patriots. Not only are they not the best team in the AFC, they may not be the best team in their division.
It seems redundant to say, but the Rams have too much speed, their 4 receiver sets will get them the matchups that they want and the Patriots have no one to cover Faulk out of the backfield. Knowing that the Rams will score a ton makes the 14 seem manageable, especially in a Super Bowl. It has always been a game where there is no letdown and a killer instinct is present in times where the game hangs in the balance. We?ve seen before when teams that win ugly, that slop up the game enough and then have the poise to win at the end, play a team that they are inferior too get behind and press. The results are ugly.
While I am very aware that I am on the public?s side here, it doesn?t bother me at all as the public owns the Super Bowl. Big teams play big and also-rans show their colors.
Concerns:
The Rams have had a cavalier attitude to turnovers in the past and if New England can get a turnover and hang with the Rams for a half, this game may go down to the wire. However, I see the Rams have changed their attitude with the benching of Az Hakim and Candidate on returns. Martz no longer is finding turnovers acceptable. In the playoff games, the Rams have turned the ball over 1 time. In their only two losses this season, they were a combined ?10 (13 ? 3) in the turnover battle. If the Rams don?t lose the turnover battle by more than 2, they will cover.
As bad as the Pats offense looked against Pittsburgh, they showed tremendous poise when the Steelers cut the deficit to 4. The Pats drove right down the field, when a lesser team would have imploded. That poise will be needed if the Rams get on top early.
I mentioned above that the Rams lost 5 players in the game with the Patriots before. Not all can be blamed on bad luck. While I think that the Rams have shown that their soft label doesn?t hold merit, a team gets a reputation for a reason. The Patriots may be able to hault the crossing patterns with a few heavy hits, but Warner doesn?t usually hang his receivers out to dry.
The Lou -14 5 units
