Super Bowl LIII is a matchup of age and experience, both in the players and the coaching staffs of these teams, as the upstart Los Angeles Rams take on the dynastic New England Patriots in Atlanta.
Refresh here for live updates and analysis from Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
What about the commercials? We’re covering those live, too.
How to watch Super Bowl LIII
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. | Channel: CBS | Streaming: Free on CBSSports.com
Rams vs. Patriots: The Top Story Lines
The Patriots demolished the Chargers and beat the Chiefs thanks, in part, to the N.F.L.’s quirky overtime rules. The Rams ran all over the Cowboys and then beat the Saints with a huge assist from the officials. Here’s an illustrated look at how we got from the regular season to the Super Bowl.
It has been 17 years since the Patriots started this unprecedented run of N.F.L. success, a run that started with a Super Bowl win over the Rams (who were based out of St. Louis at the time.) At 41, Tom Brady is still at quarterback for the Patriots and Jared Goff — who was 7 at the time of that New England win and is currently 24 — will lead the Rams, trying for a Super Bowl title in just his third season.
The game will be missing a key wide receiver on both sides, though that has been clear for some time. Cooper Kupp, the breakout star slot receiver for the Rams, tore his A.C.L. in Week 10 and Josh Gordon, the Patriots’ top deep threat, was suspended indefinitely in late December for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. The teams have had time to adjust to life without them, but both forced fairly significant changes in offensive strategy. Read more about the players who missed out on their first Super Bowl.
The crowd so far at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is at least 75 percent Patriots fans, which might be a conservative estimate. Maybe the LA crowd is more chill when it comes to hurrying to the game. But I stood in a concourse under the stands a little while ago and counted as 39 people wearing Patriots garb passed me before I saw two Rams fans. — Bill Pennington
The most important injury to watch is the knee inflammation sustained by Todd Gurley in Week 15 of the regular season. While the team has consistently downplayed how serious of a concern the knee is, Gurley sat out Week 16 and 17, and while he returned to great effect in the divisional round against Dallas, he was a shell of himself in the N.F.C. championship game, registering just four carries and one reception. Luckily for the Rams, C.J. Anderson, who had failed to catch on with the Panthers and Raiders this season, joined Los Angeles in advance of Week 16 and has been highly effective behind a maximum blocking scheme.
Aaron Donald is definitely a player to keep an eye on in this game. The Rams’ defensive tackle just joined J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor as the only players to be named the N.F.L.’s Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive seasons. More important, he generates a consistent amount of quick and powerful interior pressure, which has long been seen as the best way to combat Tom Brady’s ability to get the ball out quickly to receivers on short routes. Read more about how Aaron Donald changed the position.
Coach Sean McVay, at 33, is the youngest coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl appearance, breaking the previous record was held by Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, who was 36 when he led the Steelers to a win in Super Bowl XLIII. McVay’s ability to take what had been a 4-12 team and turn it into an offensive powerhouse that has gone 24-8 over two seasons has led other N.F.L. teams to try remarkably hard to repeat what they believe is the formula of his success. Read our story on Sean McVay’s rise here.
Coach Bill Belichick got his first N.F.L. job — special assistant for the Baltimore Colts — in 1975, eleven years before McVay was born. McVay had just turned 1 when Belichick earned his first Super Bowl ring as the defensive coordinator of the 1986 Giants. Belichick, as either a head coach or coordinator, currently has seven of those rings.
The Patriots had a somewhat uneven season in terms of results, finishing with an 11-5 record that was below the team’s typical standards. While they have been the favorite in two of their three games this postseason — including this one — Tom Brady has worked to motivate himself and his teammates by repeatedly declaring that no one believes in them. The Rams, meanwhile, were the favorite in all 16 of their regular season games this season, and were favored over Dallas in the divisional round, but enter a second consecutive game as an underdog.
Benjamin Hoffman is a senior staff editor and regular contributor to the Keeping Score column in sports. He joined The Times in 2005. @BenHoffmanNYT • Facebook
Source: Read Full Article