2018 NFL Playoffs

[Rupert Patrick]

There will definitely be some chicanery in this game. Trick plays that teams have been saving for some time and will unveil at the Super Bowl. I just wonder who will hit first regarding the haymaker "Philly Special" type moment. Bill Walsh always said...be the first guy to land that punch. If you connect it sends the other team reeling

We've seen other trick plays in the Super Bowl throughout the years, the Saints onside kickoff to start the second half for one, but after the Philly Special, I have the feeling you may see each team try as many as two or three of these type plays during the game. I doubt any of them will work because after last year, the other team will waiting for it. It really has to happen when nobody expects it, maybe once every five Super Bowls.

[74_75_78_79_]

We’ve seen Belichick/Brady lose a Super Bowl numerous times in this still-going-on era of theirs. But I think we, for the first time, will see them lose two SBs in a row. It’ll be a high-scoring game yet, unlike last year, there’ll be plenty enough defense moments throughout which will be reason for some of those points scored.

Rams 38, Patriots 33

[Rupert Patrick]

My system predicts Rams 30 - Patriots 24, with the Rams having a 64 percent chance of winning the game. Taking everything into consideration, I think the differences in the teams will be Aaron Donald putting pressure on Brady and the emergence of CJ Anderson during the postseason against the Brady-Belichick mystique. I just think the Rams have too many weapons; they're going to pull this out. I'll say Rams 30 - Patriots 27.

[Rupert Patrick]

This is the third lowest scoring game of the 2018 season, behind the 12/2 Colts-Jaguars game, which Jacksonville won 6-0 and 9/23 when Tennessee beat Jacksonville 9-6.

Among League Championship games, it is the lowest scoring since the 1948 NFL Championship game when the Eagles beat the Rams 7-0.

This is why I love football. Nobody forsaw a game like this.

[JohnH19]

Picking nits but the 1949 NFL Championship and the 1961 AFL Championship were also lower scoring than tonight’s game.
Not surprised that the Pats won but 13-3?

[RRMarshall]

Weren't we all complaining after the Rams-Chiefs Monday Night game about the ridiculous amount of scoring in the NFL during this era? I'm still scratching my head over whether we saw a return to great defense or totally inept offense tonite in the SB? Wouldn't have minded a couple of TDs...but it was a refreshing change. Don't know how all of you felt but I felt the tension the entire game...

[Bob Gill]

I enjoyed this game quite a bit, especially coming at the end of a season that started with a seemingly endless string of 38-34 games. I don't think it was inept offense at all; I think this was a case of two teams playing great defense.

By the way, it's not that I especially love defense -- it's just that I like a variety of games, like 34-31 this week and 16-13 next week. It seemed like that was disappearing earlier this season, but over the last several weeks things started to turn around, and the Super Bowl just put an exclamation point on the change.

[Reaser]

I'm still scratching my head over whether we saw a return to great defense or totally inept offense tonite in the SB? Wouldn't have minded a couple of TDs...but it was a refreshing change. Don't know how all of you felt but I felt the tension the entire game...

Probably a bit of both.

At various times the ball was coming out of both QB's hands odd tonight. Goff isn't always accurate but throws spirals and he only had a couple of his usual darts, lot of wobbling and even some fluttering. Brady, too. Had his usual great mechanics but ball was coming out funny here and there, with the obvious being his first pass of the game. Though even on some completions to the MVP the ball looked different from usual coming off of his hand.

There was a lot of throws to be made and both had the time to make the throws but missed, either didn't see open receivers or missed the throws -- or even when the ball got there it wasn't a good throw and allowed DB to recover.

Both teams struggled on 3rd down.

Probably most of all, in my opinion, what was noticeably different from the regular season is the -incredibly weak- penalties that extend drives. Those weren't called tonight, thankfully. Sort of reminded me of the difference between how they determined what was and wasn't a catch all throughout last season then completely changed the way they did it for last years Super Bowl. This time around, it was the ticky-tack 3rd down PI calls that gift 1st downs and extend drives and obviously lead to more points. They were there to be called tonight and all season they were called but tonight they weren't. Also the roughing the passer calls, there was/always is a chance to gift Brady his usual free 15 and they didn't call it. Certainty was a few, definitely one clear chance with Hightower landing on him, to give Goff a call and had it been the regular season I bet the Rams would have got a free 15 and kept the drive alive. The only real, for lack of a better word, soft call along those lines was the 'defenseless' receiver penalty. Otherwise, the typical game-to-game ridiculous penalties we got all season that helped drive up scoring weren't called tonight. Again, I'm glad.

As for tension, yes but for me, I sort of kept feeling like the game was stuck. Usually see the first possession of the Super Bowl struggles/or nerves, whatever one wants to attribute the reasoning for -particularly with the Patriots in their SB's- but it felt like the majority of the game was that, for both teams. Like a typical 'nervous' opening drive of the Super Bowl, yet it was still happening when it was the 8th possession, and so on. Felt weird watching it but I kept saying to myself that's how it felt, like the game had just started and it was the first time touching the ball, even though it was midway through the 3Q, for example.

[JWL]

I did not think either team was getting to 30, but 16 total points was odd. My worse nightmare for the Rams was they would lose 24-10. I thought there was no chance the Patriots would get blown out.

Ever since Cooper Kupp was lost for the season and Todd Gurley got hurt, the Rams offense was not the same.

Surprisingly, James White and Todd Gurley had little impact on the game. I thought the winning team would have one of those guys with about 70 receiving yards.

I thought Stephon Gilmore should have been the MVP but Julian Edelman was the most impactful offensive player so it is okay.

[Jay Z]

I did not think either team was getting to 30, but 16 total points was odd. My worse nightmare for the Rams was they would lose 24-10. I thought there was no chance the Patriots would get blown out.

Ever since Cooper Kupp was lost for the season and Todd Gurley got hurt, the Rams offense was not the same.

Surprisingly, James White and Todd Gurley had little impact on the game. I thought the winning team would have one of those guys with about 70 receiving yards.

I thought Stephon Gilmore should have been the MVP but Julian Edelman was the most impactful offensive player so it is okay.

Kupp didn't play against the Chiefs, but yeah, after the bye the statistics are fairly stark. Bears shut this offense down too. Yards down, turnovers up. Chiefs did not suffer to the same degree with Kareem Hunt.

White did nothing, yes. Rams couldn't take away Edelman but they took away White. Rams defense played well enough to win.

Glad Brady did not get the MVP. He was a below average QB in both Conference Championship and Super Bowl.

Game was not tense in a fun way to watch. More tedious. Patriots have been in low scoring Super Bowls that were more fun to watch. It will go down in history for the score, but not as one to watch again and again.