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The road here
Both these teams have reached the big game as number two seeds in the AFC and NFC. However, their road to that spot and how they ultimately earned a trip to Atlanta are quite different.
The Patriots started their season with a win over a talented Texans squad, but they went on to lose by double-digits at Jacksonville and Detroit. While they had some dominant showings over the next six weeks and beat some of the top teams in the Chiefs and Bears, an embarrassing 34-10 loss at Tennessee fueled some chatter about the end of this dynasty.
New England got back on track with consecutive 14-point wins over the Jets and Vikings, but a last-second loss at Miami and the fact they could only score 10 points at Pittsburgh only fueled those talks, especially with Brady making unfamiliar mistakes.
They were on track to play in the Wild Card Round for the first time since 2009, but with some help from the Texans losing in week 16 and the Patriots ending the season with lay-ups against the Bills and Jets, the Patriots once again earned a first-round bye. When they did come out for their postseason debut they just annihilated the Chargers in the Divisional Round, even though a 13-point margin doesn’t nearly sound as bad as it actually was. That led to a rematch against the Chiefs, but now in Kansas City.
The Pats D was dominant early on, keeping the explosive KC offence and leading MVP-candidate Patrick Mahomes scoreless in the first half, before Brady and the rushing attack sealed the deal for them in overtime, putting them in the big game for the fourth time in five years. However, the game should have already been over, as Brady threw an interception down by four points, which was negated by Dee Ford lining up in the neutral zone.
The Rams, on the other hand, started 2018 off as hot as any team in the league. They won their first eight games of the season while outscoring the opposition by an average of 13.6 points per week.
Los Angeles could not quite overcome the 21-point hole they dug themselves into when they travelled to New Orleans, as the Saints handed them their first loss of the year. They won shootouts over the next two weeks against the Seahawks and that all-time offensive explosion against the Chiefs, before handling Detroit.
However, after two straight losses against the Bears and Eagles people started doubting this team when it matters most, as Goff threw a combined five interceptions and no touchdowns during that two-game stretch.
Yet they bounced back over the final two weeks with the addition of CJ Anderson allowing them to rest a banged up Todd Gurley, as the veteran went for 300 yards combined in weeks 16 and 17. That secured the Rams a first-round bye and they maintained that dominant ground attack, running all over the Cowboys with total 273 yards.
When they travelled back to the Super Dome, they once again got down early, but a faked punt inside their own territory jump-started a comeback. When the Saints were at the opposing 13-yard line with less than two minutes on the clock, a clear pass interference call was not made, as Nickell Robey-Coleman hit Tommylee Lewis upside his head while the ball was in the air.
This prevailed the Rams to force overtime and ultimately had Greg Zuerlein kick a 57-yard field goal off a Drew Brees interception, which put them into the Super Bowl.
So as you can tell there are some asterisks connected to the Rams' win in the Conference Championship Round. However, they did what they could and I will not sit here and tell you that they don’t deserve to play for a Lombardi trophy or anything like that.
Both squads made the plays when they needed to and didn’t panic when their seasons hang in the balance. With that being said, let’s preview the matchups of offence versus defence for either team.
