Patriots vs. Rams: Breaking down Super Bowl LIII

The Patriots haven’t had an easy road this postseason, but after dispatching the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, they seem prepared to take on another talented offensive team. Here’s how they match up:

WHEN THE PATRIOTS RUN

Sony Michel has had one of the best postseason performances for a rookie running back in Patriots history. He’s averaging 121 yards per game to go with five rushing [...]

The Patriots haven’t had an easy road this postseason, but after dispatching the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, they seem prepared to take on another talented offensive team. Here’s how they match up:

WHEN THE PATRIOTS RUN

Sony Michel has had one of the best postseason performances for a rookie running back in Patriots history. He’s averaging 121 yards per game to go with five rushing touchdowns. Michel is one of two players in franchise history to have back-to-back 100-yard games in the playoffs, joining Laurence Maroney. Rex Burkhead has 53 rushing yards in the playoffs, but he’s scored three touchdowns. The Rams are tough up front with Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh. They finished the season ranked 23rd in the NFL in rush defense. The Rams have been solid this postseason shutting down the likes of Ezekiel Elliot (47 rushing yards), Mark Ingram (31) and Alvin Kamara (15). 

Edge: Patriots

WHEN THE PATRIOTS PASS 

This postseason, Tom Brady has been lights out. The quarterback is averaging 344.5 passing yards per game. He’s thrown for two touchdowns and two interceptions, but when the game’s on the line, he’s the man you want under center. Julian Edelman is averaging 123.5 receiving yards per game in the playoffs. James White is averaging 73 receiving yards per game and Rob Gronkowski looks like he’s emptying the tank. The Rams have Pro Bowlers Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters at cornerback. Los Angeles was ranked 14th in the NFL in pass defense in 2018. 

Edge: Patriots

WHEN THE RAMS RUN

Todd Gurley is one of the best running backs in the NFL. He finished third in the NFL this year with 1,251 rushing yards. He led the league with 17 rushing touchdowns. An injury to Gurley, however, brought C.J. Anderson into the fold. Anderson has more rushing yards (167) than Gurley (125) this postseason. This season, the Patriots finished 11th in run defense and had a rough stretch in the middle of the season. In the playoffs, however, they’ve been a lot better, allowing 19 yards to the Chargers and 41 yards to the Chiefs. 

Edge: Rams

WHEN THE RAMS PASS

Jared Goff is coming off the best season of his career with 4,688 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He lost one of his favorite targets when Cooper Kupp went down, but had two 1,000-yards receivers at his disposal with Robert Woods(1,219 yards) and Brandin Cooks (1,204). Gurley (580 receiving yards and four touchdowns) also factors into the passing game. The Patriots finished eighth in the NFL in passing defense. All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore leads the way along with standout rookie J.C. Jackson and veterans Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty and Patrick Chung. 

Edge: Even

SPECIAL TEAMS

Stephen Gostkowski’s made all his kicks this postseason and 84.4 percent of his regular-season field-goal attempts. Greg Zuerlein made 7 of 8 kicks this postseason, 87.1 percent of his field-goal attempts in 2018. Cordarrelle Patterson averaged 28.8 yards per kickoff return for the Patriots and Edelman averaged 7.7 yards per punt return. Blake Countess averaged 24.6 yards per kickoff return for the Rams. 

Edge: Patriots

COACHING

Bill Belichick is one of four head coaches to win five or more championships since postseason play began in 1933, but the only one to win five Super Bowls. He’s one victory away from tying George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only coaches with six championships. This is Belichick’s ninth Super Bowl with the Patriots. Simply put, he’s the best head coach in NFL history. Rams head coach Sean McVay, 33, will become the youngest head coach in NFL history to coach in the Super Bowl. He’s 24-8 in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs since taking over as a head coach in 2017. 

Edge: Patriots