The NFL Roundup 2019: Super Bowl LIII

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

There really is something special about Super Bowl Sunday. Because this is a day that is akin to a national holiday, wherein friends and family settle around the television to enjoy a hearty meal that features wings and various snacks in order to celebrate the wonder and majesty of football, and that kind of camaraderie is simply magnificent in its own right. But while it is a blast for us to put on our favorite jerseys and eat way too much cheese dip as we watch two teams duke it out for the Lombardi Trophy, it is easy to forget what this game and this day means to the players taking the field.
 
For there is no higher honor for a player, than being able to step out onto the field and know that this is it. All the two a days, all the aches and pains and horrible losses and sweet victories of the season, or a career, were building to this point; a chance to play in the biggest game in all of the land and hopefully walk away as a Super Bowl Champion. That drive, and that desire is why we have seen some incredible Super Bowls in our day, and tomorrow’s matchup looks to be no exception for that rule. For on this Super Bowl Sunday, we get to watch a young coach and quarterback, and a pair of living legends, fight to extend or create a legacy. So, without further ado, let’s take an in depth look at both teams, and what will need to happen in order for them to win, Super Bowl LIII.

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Super Bowl LIII
The AFC Champion New England Patriots vs
​ The NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams
Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, Georgia
6:30 p.m. EST – CBS 

THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS – STRENGTHS 
While the Patriots are no longer stacked to the brim with talent quite like they used to be, this team is still able to accomplish wonders, thanks to their all-star quarterback, Tom Brady. For #12 has seen just about everything in this league, and once he knows what a team is up to, he will make plays happen and dissect their defense with little effort and that is a strength this team has utilized throughout the playoffs. For Brady knew when zone defense was coming in the AFC Championship Game, and he knew exactly what the Chargers were throwing at him before that. And Brady’s ability to read defenses and make the proper adjustments to the play before the snap, is something I expect to see plenty of in the Super Bowl.
 
THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS – WEAKNESSES
While I do make it sound as though the Patriots are invincible with Brady at the helm, make no mistake about it, they are a beatable team thanks to a couple of key weaknesses. The most glaring one, is their defense, since their D lacks any real star power or quality players and their suspect secondary has cost them games on several occasions. Also, Brady is also a liability, provided of course the opposing defense does its job right. Because Tom doesn’t like to be hit during a game, nor is he a fan of man-to-man coverage and when teams bring the rush and lock down his receivers, Brady tends to lose and for proof, look no further than Super Bowl LII…
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THE LOS ANGELES RAMS – STRENGTHS
When it comes to this particular topic, I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Because the Los Angeles Rams are a wildly talented team in just about every phase of the game. They feature a dynamic offense that is able to move the ball by land or by air thanks to their versatile running backs and top tier quarterback and they also happen to have one of the finest defenses in the league, with a vaunted front four that make life difficult for opposing offenses and all of those elements will allow for them to come out swinging, with confidence, come game time tomorrow.  
 
THE LOS ANGELES RAMS – WEAKNESSES
Ironically, while the Rams boast one of the finest defenses in the league, that stout D is also a liability on the field at times. Because Los Angeles loves to blitz, and that sometimes puts their secondary in a vulnerable spot, meaning that it is quite possible to have a receiver torch their cornerbacks and oddly enough, the offense has its issues from time to time as well. Most of those problems rest with QB Jared Goff, who proved this season that he can in fact be rattled, and when an opposing defense gets under his skin, he’s definitely prone to mistakes and these issues may rear their head during tomorrow’s game.

THE KEYS TO SUPER BOWL LIII
If the New England Patriots want to win this game, well, they need to shore up that defense and find a way to confuse and confound Jared Goff in the hopes of forcing a few turnovers and they have to figure out how to neutralize Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson on the ground if they want any shot at winning this game and of course, they need to let Brady be Brady. That means he needs total freedom at the line of scrimmage to conduct the offense as he sees fit in order to make the proper adjustments to beat whatever the Rams defense is sending his way and if they are able to pull all of that off, the Lombardi Trophy will return to Foxboro for a sixth time.

For the Los Angeles Rams to win this game, two key things need to happen. First and foremost, they need to play stifling defense when Brady is on the field, that means sacks are a necessity as is man to man coverage to take away Brady’s use of the quick route and second, the offense needs to chew up as much clock as possible. They need their ground game to serve them well and move toward the end zone in long and sustained drives, in part to keep their defense fresh, but also, to flat out keep Brady off of the field. For the longer they take, the less time that Brady has to do anything of significance.