By Nick Baum
THURSDAY – 1/31/19
The Los Angeles Rams will take on the New England Patriots in an exciting Super Bowl LIII, or 53, matchup. The Rams, with young quarterback Jared Goff and star running back Todd Gurley along with their exceptional defense is sure to make a great matchup against the Patriots, led by the 41-year-old veteran quarterback Tom Brady, along with receiving options Gronkowski, Edelman, and Michel.
In the NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and the 1 seeded New Orleans Saints, the Rams overcame a 13-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter to make it a tie game, 23 all in overtime. The Saints, already bitter with disappointment after the missed pass interference call late in the fourth quarter, won the coin toss but ended up being forced to punt, which led the Rams all the way to the game-winning field goal and a ticket to the Super Bowl.
In the AFC Championship, the New England Patriots faced off against the also 1 seeded Kansas City Chiefs, led to by up and coming quarterback Patrick Mahomes. When previously met earlier in the season, the Patriots just edged them out 43-40 in an exciting matchup. In the championship game, the Patriots were up 14-0 at halftime, but a 31-17 run by the Chiefs brought the game to overtime. The Patriots won the coin toss, and marched down the field for the game-winning touchdown.
In the end, both teams overcame exciting games ending in overtimes to get to the Super Bowl, and the overall matchup will prove to be a must – watch. The Patriots are given just a 53% chance of winning over the Rams, according to FiveThirtyEight, while the Madden 19 Simulation predicts that the Rams will win it.
Sources and Pictures: The Los Angeles Times, NFL.com, FiveThirtyEight, Google
