The NFL season is full of surprises, which makes it hard to pick winners. Cecil Walker and Joe DiTullio, of The Third and the Don Football Show, will do their best to try to predict the winners for every NFL game this season. Here are the Super Bowl LII picks.
Super Bowl LII: New England Patriots at Los Angeles Rams (Game in Atlanta, GA)
Bill Belichick (Photo by nj.com)
Joe– NFL fans get to enjoy a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI. That is the one that brought Brady to prominence and created the Patriot dynasty. They haven’t looked back since. Brady and Belichick have accomplished a lot and this season may be their biggest accomplishment yet. They don’t have the best defense or skill position players offense, but they have made the Super Bowl and are favored by 2.5 points.
The Rams are back in the promised land for the first time since that game against the Patriots. A lot has changed for them, as they have changed cities and now have Jared Goff and Todd Gurley instead of Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk leading the way. Los Angeles also has one of the most innovative minds in Sean McVay leading the way. They have a well-balanced team and talent at a lot of positions. They should provide a stiff test to the Patriots.
For this game, the Rams will be able to win due to their playmakers in multiple areas. Goff and Gurley will keep the chains moving on offense. Aaron Donald will get to Brady quick enough to affect his decision-making and accuracy. The Rams will win a close one for their second Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Cecil– Look at that, the two teams I said would lose in the divisional round are now in the Super Bowl, but that’s the NFL for you. The Patriots have played on another level since reaching the playoffs. Bill Belichick has game-planned perfectly and Tom Brady is unstoppable when the game is on the line. The Rams caught a lucky break against the Saints, but give them some credit. The Rams played toe to toe in a very hostile environment and came out victorious against a great Saints team.
Jared Goff (Photo by turfshowtimes.com)
The key for the Patriots will be slowing down the Rams offense by taking away key playmakers. Belichick will most likely focus on eliminating Todd Gurley. This would eliminate Jared Goff’s safety valve and force him to make more plays downfield, which will lead to more turnovers. The Patriots defense just needs to do enough to give Tom Brady the chance to drive down the field in the final minutes.
The Rams gameplan should be simple. The offense should score enough points against an average Patriots defense. They just need to stop Brady on a few drives. The key to that is pressure up front so Brady does not have time to throw. As we saw with the Chiefs, no one is more lethal with time than Brady. The Rams luckily have Aaron Donald to create that pressure along with Suh.
All the teams that have beaten the Patriots through the years have had one thing in common, generating pressure on Brady with a four-man rush. Aaron Donald should help the Rams accomplish this and give the defense more bodies in coverage. Coupled with a great offense, the Rams should be able to score enough to defeat the Patriots. -Rams
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