With Superbowl 53 looming, the New England Patriots are preparing, once again, for another Superbowl. After a rocky regular season, the Patriots had a dominating win against the Chargers and a nail-biting victory against the Chiefs. It seems the Pats are back to being the Pats. On Sunday, they have possibly their toughest challenge of the season going up against the juggernaut that is the L.A. Rams. For the Patriots to come away with yet another Superbowl, they’ll have to focus on key aspects that’ll cripple the surging L.A. Rams.
Offense
The Patriots offense has been nothing short of unstoppable this postseason. This unit has been highlighted by one of the more dynamic rushing attacks in the NFL. The rushing attack has been led by spectacular rookie Sony Michel. Michel has rushed for 100+ yards in both of New England’s playoff games this year, averaging just under 4.5 YPA. He repeatedly gashed the Chargers with 15-to-20-yard rushes, completely demoralizing their front seven, as well as having few 4-to-5-yard carries against the Chiefs. He has the versatility to be used on any down and distance and will be utilized a substantial amount against the Rams.
Even though this rushing attack has the capability to destroy the Rams, New England has been focusing on the run game in recent weeks. Therefore, HC Sean McVay and DC Wade Phillips of the Rams will be game-planning heavily for New England’s run game. So, New England needs to come out firing.
In the first quarter, the Patriots should focus on more of an air-raid style of offense -mostly empty backfield sets, having Patriots pass-catching RB James White in the slot, and TE Rob Gronkowski split out wide hopefully in a mismatch with a CB (likely Aqib Talib). Putting the ball in Brady’s hands will diversify the playbook for offensive mastermind OC Josh McDaniels. When the Rams begin to play the pass, expect a lot of delayed hand offs to either Michel or Rex Burkhead. New England will likely begin to unleash Michel when they obtain a lead. This will slow the game down the game and keep the Rams offense off the field.
Defense
Even though the Patriots have allowed 28 and 31 points in their first two playoff games, their defense actually looked decent. Despite giving up the most rushing YPA in the regular season (4.9), against the Chargers, they had their run game shut down. And, in the first half of the Chiefs’ game, the Patriots front seven looked like the best in the NFL. This was because the Patriots finally found a credible scheme to run in the first halves of the games.
When New England shut out the Chiefs and Chargers in the first half, they ran a lot of man-to-man coverage, paired with six over seven men rushing the QB at all times. This easily flustered Philip Rivers and Patrick Mahomes, basically giving them a second-and-a-half to find a receiver. If coverage is decent, there’ll be nowhere to go with the ball, likely resulting in a bad pass or a sack. If they chose to run, the line would be too loaded closing up all holes, resulting in a minimal gain.
Even when the Patriots didn’t blitz, the schemes the DL were running had the OL of the Chargers and Chiefs discombobulated. They ran crossing patterns, similar to when they blitz, causing miscommunication and ultimately a free hit on the QB.
If the Patriots run this scheme against the Rams, there’s no way Jared Goff has the same level of success he had against the Saints. Goff is easily flustered. Constant pressure will cause errant throws, resulting in interceptions for the Patriots. With the Rams rushing attack, New England might struggle to bottle up Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson, but the likelihood of long, gashing runs is unlikely.
Keys to Success:
- Air Raid offense.
- Integrat the run after substantial lead.
- Man-to-man coverage mixed with heavy blitzing.
- Limit Todd Gurley.
- Make Jared Goff beat you.
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