The Patriots are going for the franchise's sixth Super Bowl title as they take on the Los Angeles Rams. A victory would tie New England with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowls won by a franchise.
This is the third consecutive year the Pats are playing for the NFL title, but their return was not always a foregone conclusion.
Matt Vautour of MassLive is in Atlanta this week covering the lead-up to the game. He said he's noticed a difference in the Patriots over the last month or so.
Matt Vautour, MassLive: They looked a lot sharper, a lot more cohesive, a lot crisper in general, and they looked a lot more like the team that people are used to them being — I think especially on offense.
I think Tom Brady has looked sharper, and there's talk that he'd been playing through an injury, and that maybe the bye week before the Chargers game had allowed him to get a little healthier.
But either way, they went from a team that looked like a lesser version of themselves in the past to a team that's now looking very much like an elite Patriots team again.
Adam Frenier, NEPR: Bill Belichick is 66 years old. He's a football lifer. And the Rams head coach, Sean McVay, is just half of Belichick's age. And of course, Tom Brady is 17 years older than Jared Goff, the Los Angeles quarterback. Will experience matter in this game?
I think it matters for the first drive of the game — maybe the first quarter of the game. It matters a little bit as people come in with increased energy, with some increased nerves. I think once you get past that initial thing, it becomes a football game, and maybe the time-outs are a little longer for TV. Halftime is a little longer.
But I think what will help the Rams was the fact they started off as slowly as they did against New Orleans. They shook it off, and then played their game. If they come out and get a little bit shaky, a little bit rattled early on Sunday, they know they've been there before, and will be in a position to, I think, counteract it again.
In terms of the Rams, they have a terrific offense. Their defense is kind of in the middle of the pack. What will it take for the Patriots to stop them, offensively speaking, on Sunday?
I think the Patriots defense has been effective, especially down the stretch. I think that the fact that their secondary has been as good as it is, that Jason McCourty has gotten better over the course of the season, Stephon Gilmore has become among the best — if not the top handful — of quarterbacks in all of football. I think it gives you a good starting situation. I think the question is going to be: can they slow down Todd Gurley upfront, and keep the Rams from getting into second short, third and short situations, which give them a lot of options.
There's been a lot of chatter over the years about the Patriots' dynasty coming to an end. But here they are in the big game again. Still, could we be seeing the end of this historic run coming up this weekend?
Yeah, I think that's certainly possible, if nothing else because there's a lot of talk that Rob Gronkowski is going to be ready to retire. Devin McCourty said on Monday that if the Patriots are to win the Super Bowl, that he'd consider retiring. And Tom Brady is 41. So I don't know if it's ending.
It's at least in the process of winding down. So is this the last one? Is there another one next year? You might have thought last year was the last Super Bowl that they made it to, and yet here they are again. I've learned my lesson, I suppose, in betting against them. But it certainly feels like at some point before long, it's heading in that direction.
