No strangers to playing in the final game of the NFL season, the AFC Champion New England Patriots will be competing for the Lombardi Trophy for the ninth time in the last 18 years. It’s almost unfair considering there are a number of teams that have never played in the Super Bowl and those nine trips would be a record number of appearances by itself. And it’s no coincidence that the run started in the first year Tom Brady was the team’s starting quarterback.
Say what you want about Bill Belichick, Brady and the Pats, but they have been the model of consistent success when parity is supposed to reign supreme in the NFL. They are making their third straight Super Bowl appearance, something accomplished by just two other teams, and the Pats can match Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl record of six wins by defeating the Los Angeles Rams. The Pats’ run started in the 2001 season when Brady took over for the injured Drew Bledsoe and led them to an upset win over the St. Louis Rams as a 14-point underdog in Super Bowl XXXVI.
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2018 New England Patriots
SU Record: 11-5 regular season / 2-0 playoffs
ATS Record: 9-7 regular season / 2-0 playoffs
O/U Record: 5-11 regular season / 2-0 playoffs
Just how good are the Patriots? With many experts predicting their demise with an aging Brady calling the signals and the team struggling on the road, the Pats still won 11 games, claimed their 10th straight AFC East title and earned a No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Not bad for a team that was supposedly ready to give up its crown.
The Pats are playing with a chip on their shoulder. Sure, they weren’t good on the road during the regular season going just 3-5 SU and ATS, but they came through in the AFC title game with an impressive overtime win over the Chiefs. And they have Brady, who is 5-3 in his previous eight Super Bowl games, slinging the ball around.
It was a rather normal regular season for Brady as he completed 65.8 percent of his attempts for 4,355 yards and 29 touchdowns. All those numbers were below his 2017 regular season totals. And for the first time since 2013 his interceptions reached double figures with 11. But the GOAT has been playing his best ball in the playoffs and the Pats have been nearly unstoppable.
In the Divisional Round game against the Chargers, Brady was 34 of 44 for 343 yards with a touchdown. He threw for 348 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship with the Pats possessing the ball for 44 minutes while running twice as many plays as Kansas City. Brady took the ball to start overtime and directed a 13-play touchdown drive for the game-winner, not allowing the Chiefs to get on the field.
The emergence of Sony Michel has given New England a balanced attack that produced 1,022 total yards in a sweep of the AFC West. Michel had four 100-yard rushing games during the regular season and he’s had at least 113 yards with five touchdowns in two playoff games.
Julian Edelman and James White have been Brady’s favorite targets in the passing game with each having 23 balls thrown their way. White has 19 catches for 146 yards while Edelman has 247 yards on 16 receptions with 14 of them going for a first down. And now is not the time for the Rams to forget about Rob Gronkowski. Gronk had a big game against the Chiefs with six catches for 79 yards, which was more than his previous four games combined.
It’s well known that if Brady has time to throw the football he can pick defenses apart. And he’s been protected by a fortress during the postseason. The offensive line has not allowed a sack in two games, and going back to the regular season the group has given up just five sacks in the past eight games.
It had been over two seasons since the Chiefs were shutout in any half of a game. The Pats kept them off the board over the first 30 minutes of the championship game before Patrick Mahomes and the KC offense found some life. Brady and Co. converted 13 of 19 third-downs and were able to possess the football and keep the Chiefs off the field. That’s a game plan that will work against the Rams, but executing it again could be more difficult.
NFL Super Bowl 53 Betting Props
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