It will likely go down as the greatest NFL Championship Sunday in league history. Both games needed overtime, but we finally got our Super Bowl LIII match up settled. The New England Patriots will face off against the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3 in at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Ga.
Related: NFL Betting Guide
Los Angeles Rams vs New England Patriots (-1.5)
Over-Under: 57.5
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. EST
Broadcast: CBS
Los Angeles Rams +2½ +119 un 57
New England Patriots -2½ – 143 un 57
Odds Provided by BetDSI.eu
The Patriots (15-3) seem content to revisit the old hits here in the latter stages of their epic two-decade run. New England’s dynasty began with a 20-17 victory over the then St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. That game should have been the second in a Rams dynasty, led by Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk on offense. Instead, the team spiraled down due to inept drafts, Mike Martz’s hubris and the eventual divorce with Warner. He would go on to take another team to the Super Bowl and the Rams have been absolutely terrible until last season when owner Stan Kroenke hired wunderkind Sean McVay to take over.
Over the next two weeks, every word ever uttered by every former Ram about cheating in Super Bowl XXXVI will be hammered into the brains of every player on the New England roster.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 21, 2019
Los Angeles (15-3) rolls into Super Bowl 53 after doing the impossible. Thanks to a blatant missed pass interference call late in the game, they were able to slide out of New Orleans with a, 26-23, overtime victory over the Saints. And, sure, the correct call would have ended the game and sent the Saints to the Super Bowl, but that referee unit missed plenty of big calls including two huge facemasks that should have gone against the Saints and likely would have added a couple of Rams touchdowns to the board. It all balances out is what I’m saying.
Who America is rooting for in the Super Bowl: pic.twitter.com/LFUpRTu6d5
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) January 21, 2019
New England had to weather a fourth-quarter comeback from the Kansas City Chiefs in the arctic temperatures of Arrowhead Stadium and even fashion their own come from behind effort as well. Just like the NFC Championship, the AFC title game needed the extra period to be settled and after winning the toss, the Patriots rolled right down the field and punched the ball into the end zone for the victory.
Pats open as favorites
Right after New England slid into the locker room to pick up the Lamar Hunt Trophy, BetDSI released its odds for Super Bowl LIII and the Patriots are -1.5 favorites with an over-under of 57.5. Even though the Rams haven’t hit an over-under in the playoffs, it looks like the books are still banking on a Super Bowl fireworks show from two of the league’s best offenses. Tom Brady and Jared Goff have the largest age difference (17 years) in any quarterback Super Bowl match up. At 32, Sean McVay is the youngest head coach to ever make it to the Super Bowl. Goff will be the youngest quarterback (at 24) to start a Super Bowl and Brady will be the oldest (at 41) to start a Super Bowl, defeating his own record he set last season.
What a day. #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/LSVOjAvlFb
— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2019
The Rams are probably the worst possible match up for New England. They get their pressure up front from Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh and, in two of his three Super Bowl losses, that’s been the key to beating Brady. Additionally, Wade Phillips has crafted defenses that have slowed down Josh McDaniels’ attack multiple times back when he was with the Denver Broncos. Los Angeles’ defense has played exceptionally well in the playoffs at all three levels. New England doesn’t have an outside receiver threat to test them deep and that could be the difference.
The Pick
No one would be surprised if Brady and Belichick didn’t have one more title left in them before they hang up their spurs, but I like the Rams here two weeks out. The pick is Rams +1.5
