It usually takes a few days to kick in. There’s a routine the players go through who have been to multiple Super Bowls, but as a Patriots fan, you get in a routine as well when your quarterback leads your team to their fourth Super Bowl in the last five years. It usually sinks in when the shows are “coming to you live from Atlanta.” Or recent years when Barstool Sports sends their top personalities down to the host city. This year, after all of the adversity the Pats faced this, when Rex Burkhead scored the winning touchdown at Arrowhead two weeks ago and Scott Zolak shouted into his headset “America’s worst nightmare is back,” it sunk in.
New England and Los Angeles face off yet again in a world championship, and each city is more than ready for this sort of “city rematch,” as the Lombardi Trophy will be in possession of whoever comes out on top tonight, here is my final “3 stats” article of the NFL season:
1) 0
Tom Brady has gotten sacked zero times this postseason. Dante Scarnecchia has been in the media spotlight this week probably more than any other offensive line coach has in history because of how he has coached the five guys up front for the Pats so well. They face a tough challenge though tonight in trying to contain back-to-back NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and the rest of the Rams pass rush who beat their blocks in under 2.5 seconds 59.9% of the time this regular season and postseason, which is 2nd best in the NFL, according to ESPN.
2) 22
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The Patriots are the best in the NFL in preventing negative rushing attempts only having 22 attempts resulting in a tackle for loss. During the postseason they have averaged 165.5 rushing yards per game. That combined with the Patriots going 13-19 on 3rd downs last week should give Pats Nation some hope before kickoff tonight.
3) 11-0
The Rams are 11-0 when Todd Gurley has more than 15 carries in a game. He was quiet in the Superdome two weeks ago with what people are calling a knee or hip injury, although he did get a very big touchdown. Belichick will look to his secondary and pass rush to keep 2018’s third best scoring offense out of the endzone.
Something weird will happen, we will see greatness, and we will see mistakes. It’s Super Bowl Sunday and America will be glued to their TVs tonight as Brady and Belichick look for their 6th ring, while McVay and Goff look for their 1st.
I would also like to thank Mike D’Abate and Ian Glendon for the opportunity they gave me in August to allow me to write for the FPC Patriots page. It means the world and you guys are awesome, I have loved every second of these weekly posts.
The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams kickoff in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII tonight at 6:30 P.M. on CBS and 98.5 The Sports Hub.
-Johnny Maffei is a Staff Writer for Full Press Coverage Sports Media and covers the New England Patriots. Follow him on Twitter @JohnnyBSBL4
