The New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 to win the LIII bowl less than two years ago.
What’s at stake will be lower in Thursday night’s rematch, but higher than at any Patriots game this season.
An 8-4 win over the Rams lead the NFC West would push the Patriots 6-6 – winners of two in a row and four of their last five – getting closer to a place in the playoffs.
A loss would not mathematically be for New England, yet a team’s 9-7 chances of qualifying in this year’s competitive AFC are slim, even with a third wild card added.
Can the Patriots get rid of the anger?Will New England’s defense and panels be able to keep pace?
Here’s what we’ll see in this week 14 game:
DETAILS Time: Thursday, 8:20 p. m. ET Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California TV: FOX/ NFL Network
OPPORTUNITIES (according to consensus data) Propagation: Aries -5 Plus/less: 44. 5
THE LAST WEEK The Patriots presented their back-to-back in Los Angeles categorically, beating the Chargers 45-0 in their all-time and surprising victory of the season.
Quarterback Cam Newton finished with 69 yards per air, the minimum of his career, in the win, but the Patriots exceled in all other respects, invading Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and scoring two touchdowns on special teams.
Although he did not provide much pass production, Newton helped direct the effective running effort, using 14 times for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Damien Harris finished with 80 yards on 14 hauls, and Sony Michel added 35 yards in 10 attempts.
It’s the first time the Patriots have scored forty-five tracks in a game since 2015 (51-17 against Jacksonville).
The Rams recovered from a Week 12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers with a 38-28 away win over Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
McVay’s club has lately ranked third in the NFC, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers, respectively.
INJURY UPDATE Fourteen Patriots players are indexed as questionable by Thursday:
LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (groin) DT Adam Butler (shoulder) DT Byron Cowart (back) DB Kyle Dugger (toe) K Nick Folk (back) DT Lawrence Guy (shoulder) TE Ryan Izzo (hamstring, hand , neck) CB JC Jackson (hip, knee) FB Jakob Johnson (knee) CB Jonathan Jones (neck) G Shaq Mason (calf) QB Cam Newton (abdomen) WR Matthew Slater (knee) RB JJ Taylor (quadriceps)
We’re watching Jackson, Jones and Izzo, all of whom left the Chargers with injuries.
Either defensive would be a significant loss to a Rams offense that presents great skill for the catcher (Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Josh Reynolds, Van Jefferson) and the tight ending (Tyler Higbee, Gerald Everett). can’t go, un recruited rookie Myles Bryant and/or 2019 second-round recruit Joejuan Williams can take on more important roles.
Izzo has only thirteen catches this season, however, he started each and every game and played 80% of New England’s offensive shots. No other tight aspect of the Patriots played more than 10%. If Izzo can’t go, it would be Dalton. Keene, Jordan Thomas and potentially Devin Asiasi (if activated outside the injured reserve) to fill the void.
The Rams indexed a player in their final injury report: kicker Matt Gay, who is questionable with a shoulder injury. The offensive medium Cam Akers and defensive lineman Michael Brockers missed the previous practice the week but were allowed to play.
With a backfield combo from Akers, Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown, the Rams lead the NFL in football, Outsiders’ main offense, which measures the overall power of a unit, despite being tied in eighth place in court yards consistent with the game and 20th in race-consistent yards.
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton, a rare point?The last starting quarterback to do so, Akili Smith, in 2000, and went to banking in one of one’s games.
The Patriots have been able to win in recent years despite their lack of passing offense, which had shown a steady improvement before crashing into Week 12. Newton has continually stated that he cares only about victories, not numbers. New England wins 4 more without additional production of pass games.
Newton was at least effective and careful with the ball opposed to the Chargers: he played football without losing the ball after throwing two interceptions in a last-second win over the Cardinals, and his effect on ground play cannot be overlooked. Only Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henry have more touchdowns this season than Newton’s 11.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff Super Bowl LIII was a depressing delight for Goff, which New England controlled to overwhelm with near-constant tension. Goff finished only 50% of his passes, captured 4 times and threw an interception in the fourth quarter at Stephon Gilmore – while facing a severe tension of a double-protection bombardment — he necessarily lost the game for Los
Brian Flores, the New England defensive player in that game, beat Goff with previous blitzes this season, and the QB Rams struggled, throwing two interceptions and losing two loose balls in the 28-17 loss to the Florida Miami Dolphins.
It will be appealing to see if the Patriots, who have lost the top of their first seven in 2018, have a similar game plan this week: they took the opposite technique to the Chargers, providing their maximum productive functionality of season pass racing despite bombings on less than 10% of Herbert’s falls.
Goff has just finished one of his highest effective games of the season, completing 78. 7% of his passes for 351 yards while relying on the maximum exclusively on short shots. Only six of his 47 pass attempts against Arizona have covered more than 10 yards on the field. through Pro Football Focus.
Damien Harris, patriots’ ball bearing, we talked about the Patriots’ recent passing problems. This may not be the week to solve them, with a game consistent with the attempt and rank fourth in defense against DVOA Football Outsiders.
That means we can see something warmer from Harris, whose average of 5. 1 yards per rank as a New England gun baseman is eighth best in the NFL. The Patriots have been the heaviest team in the NFL this season, ranking first in career attempts, third in ground yards, tied for touchdowns and fourth for the DVOA race offense.
However, running with the Rams wouldn’t be easy. They also have a defense of the top five.
Rams catcher Cooper Kupp The biggest replacement in the Rams offensive of Super Bowl LIII is the presence of Kupp, who missed the time of the 2018 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Kupp, who plays more than part of his shots in the slot machine, leads all Rams pass receivers with 74 receptions (tied at number 12 in the NFL) for 836 yards (16), has only two landing receptions. Faced Miami earlier last month, Goff beat him 20 times remarkably, completing 11 for 110 yards.
“It makes a big difference, ” said Belichick this week.
The Patriots surprised the Rams in the Super Bowl by betting much more on zone politics than usual. Will they retract this plan or switch to a more masculine approach in their class?And when they play man, the wisest corner Gilmore faces. Kupp?
Adam Butler, the Patriots’ defensive tackle, played a key role in the recent revival of the New England pass race since returning from a shoulder injury that has limited him for much of the season, with a total of 11 tackles, two catches, three loss strikes, 4 QB hits and two break passes in the last two games.
With Butler, Chase Winovich, Deatrich Wise and rookie Josh Uche, the Patriots discovered a quartet of pass launchers capable of generating constant tension on the keys. Can you go after Goff as Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and company?so two years later?
Aaron Donald, defensive take on the Rams Any game plan that opposes the Rams’ defensive will have to start with Donald. The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been his normal crushing quarterback this season, qualifying moment in the league in catches (11) and tied for fourth place in quarterback hits (22).
Donald is the fourth highest rated player in Pro Football Focus regardless of position, only Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Cleveland Browns goalkeeper Wyatt Teller. It’s very, very, very good.
“He’s an extraordinary player,” Belichick said Tuesday. He’s going to destroy a game, there’s no game where it’s not a thing and he’s right in the middle of the defense, you can’t get away from it in a race or a pass, you have to face it and block it in each and every piece. So it’s definitely a paramount thing in the game. “
Donald is rarely the Rams’ only defensive. They have been in that aspect of the ball this season, completing the five most sensitive in almost each and every category under freshman coordinator Brandon Staley.
Patriots kicker Olszewski, at the forefront of the Patriots’ return, picking up the pushers for touchdowns in each of the last two games (one voided by penalty).
The Rams ‘special groups were just as incompetent as the Chargers’ special groups, yet they struggled to make kicks and punts, and they reached 30th in yards despite one of the NFL’s top overall bettors for Johnny Hekker. season, the last of which (Gay) is lately indexed in the injury report.
It’s a delay the Patriots will take advantage of.