We are now just a couple of days away from Super Bowl 53 between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. The anticipation is growing as we inch closer to the rematch of Super Bowl 36, when Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl.
Nerves are increasing for both sides, but especially for Rams fans who have longed for this opportunity for years. Of course, for the Patriots it is a regular occurrence to be playing on the last Sunday of the NFL season.
In the Brady and Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have found themselves in the Super Bowl a jaw-dropping nine times including this coming weekend. We will likely never see another franchise in the NFL have the same run as the Patriots have had since 2001.
If the Rams are going to defeat the Patriots, they need to play their best game of the season. Here are three surprising players who could sway the game in the Rams' favor on Sunday.
3. Josh Reynolds
Since the Rams lost Cooper Kupp earlier in the season to a torn ACL, Josh Reynolds has been asked to step up in a big way. Before Kupp went down with injury, Kupp had 40 receptions for 566 yards and six touchdowns in eight games.
Reynolds had big shoes to fill and has done a respectable job of doing so. Since stepping in for Kupp, Reynolds totaled 22 receptions for 304 yards and three touchdowns in Weeks 11-17.
In the NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints, Reynolds had four catches for 74 yards as well as an end-around that brought Los Angeles to the one-yard line.
It was a nice performance from Reynolds in a game where the Rams were down 13-0 at one point. He needs to continue contributing as much as possible against the Patriots.
With Robert Woods likely garnering Stephon Gilmore and the Patriots throwing different looks to slow down Brandin Cooks, Reynolds will be key in this game.
2. Nickell Robey-Coleman
One of the keys to the Rams winning on Sunday is their ability to slow down Julian Edelman. Edelman is Brady's favorite target, especially on third downs.
The player who will likely get the responsibility of covering Edelman is Nickell Robey-Coleman. Robey-Coleman occupies the slot cornerback position for the Rams on defense.
He recently made headlines with the non-call in the NFC Championship game where Robey-Coleman noticeably committed pass interference on Tommylee Lewis. The refs decided to not throw the flag and the Saints settled for a field goal to take the lead, 23-20. If the penalty was called, New Orleans could've ran down the clock and attempted the kick with only a few seconds left for the Rams to try to tie it up.
The Saints received the ball in overtime and failed to capitalize as John Johnson intercepted Drew Brees. That set the Rams up to win on a 57-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein.
Robey-Coleman will absolutely want to make people forget about the non-call by playing a phenomenal performance in the Super Bowl. If the Rams want to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, they need a big-time outing from Robey-Coleman.
1. Ndamukong Suh
During the regular season, fans were questioning the signing of Ndamukong Suh as he was nearly non-existent. Suh totaled just 4.5 sacks heading into the postseason.
Although Aaron Donald will be key to the Rams' success on Sunday, Suh needs to play lights out. He has done that in the last couple of weeks in the playoffs, beating his man when Donald is double-teamed.
In the Divisional Round, Suh had one of his best games in a Rams uniform as he lived in the backfield all game. He had just three tackles but was a big reason why Ezekiel Elliott was unable to get going.
Elliott finished the game with just 47 yards rushing on 20 carries. Suh followed that up with another impressive showing in the NFC Championship game against the Saints.
Suh and company knew they needed to slow down the Saints rushing attack to stand a chance at winning. They did just that by holding Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram to 46 yards on 17 carries.
Suh also added 1.5 sacks on the day as the Rams advanced to the Super Bowl. Now, Los Angeles needs Suh to stay hot against the ageless Patriots.
New England will undoubtedly look to start the game by running the ball as they have in their two playoff wins. They drove downfield against the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs by running the ball with ease to seize momentum early on.
The Rams and Suh cannot allow that to happen to them, and creating interior pressure on Brady will be just as vital. If Suh plays at the same level he has over the last two games, it's hard to see the Rams losing in Atlanta.
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