{"id":57506,"date":"2019-01-31T15:48:49","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=57506"},"modified":"2019-01-31T15:48:49","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:48:49","slug":"super-bowl-liii-new-england-patriots-wide-receivers-vs-los-angeles-rams-secondary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/01\/31\/super-bowl-liii-new-england-patriots-wide-receivers-vs-los-angeles-rams-secondary\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Bowl LIII: New England Patriots Wide Receivers vs. Los Angeles Rams Secondary"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Age has definitely taken a toll.” That’s how\u00a0Nickell Robey-Coleman<\/a><\/strong> decided to describe the 41-year-old quarterback that was a top-10 passer in completions, attempts, passing yards, passing touchdowns, first downs gained and plays of 20+ yards. As Robey-Coleman,\u00a0Marcus Peters<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Aqib Talib<\/a><\/strong> and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> secondary prepares to face off against\u00a0Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> and the everyman squad of New England Patriots<\/a> wide receivers, they might wish age had taken a toll on the Patriots.<\/p>\n

Super Bowl LIII: New England Patriots Wide Receivers vs. Los Angeles Rams Secondary<\/strong><\/h1>\n

New England Patriots Offensive Line vs Los Angeles Rams Defensive Line<\/a><\/strong>
\nNew England Patriots Defensive Line, Linebackers vs. Los Angeles Rams Offensive Line<\/a><\/strong>
\nSizing Up the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams Running Backs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rams Defensive Outlook<\/h2>\n

Few players were listed on the Rams injury report this week, and only one of them did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.\u00a0Blake Countess<\/a><\/strong> was held out on Wednesday with a foot injury, but Countess has little bearing on the secondary, given that he’s only played six snaps on defense over the Rams last two games.<\/p>\n

The Rams have been decent at shutting down true top wide receivers this postseason. In the Divisional Round, the Rams held a reborn\u00a0Amari Cooper<\/a><\/strong> to 65 yards and a score on nine targets, six of which he caught. But despite his seven-catch, 106-yard game against the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> in the Wild Card Round, Cooper did not finish out the season well, posting three straight games under 40 yards. Cooper isn’t exactly the picture of a true top receiver.<\/p>\n

In the NFC Championship Game, however, the Rams held\u00a0Michael Thomas<\/a><\/strong> to four catches on seven targets and just 36 receiving yards. It was the first time all season that Thomas caught less than 60 percent of his targets.<\/p>\n

On the other hand,\u00a0Michael Gallup<\/a><\/strong> tore up the Rams secondary for 119 yards for the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alvin Kamara<\/a><\/strong> caught 11 targets for 96 yards in the NFC Championship.<\/p>\n

Exploiting the Rams Weaknesses<\/h2>\n

Kamara’s production was a result of the ferocity of the Rams pass rush.\u00a0Aaron Donald<\/a><\/strong> is a legitimate contender for league MVP this year, and the pass rush unit has been graded as the second-best in the league. This, as has been the case so often this season, will mean a lot of\u00a0Julian Edelman<\/a><\/strong> and a lot of\u00a0James White<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ndamukong Suh<\/a><\/strong> has contributed to a very heavy run-stuffing defense this postseason, which should mean very tough sledding for\u00a0Sony Michel<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Rex Burkhead<\/a><\/strong>. Fortunately, the Rams have been horrible against two-back sets, according to Sharp Football Stats<\/a>, and\u00a0Josh McDaniels<\/strong> is very likely prepared to exploit that. The Rams also struggle against play-action, another area where the Patriots excel.<\/p>\n

The Rams aren’t afraid to have cornerbacks follow receivers, which means that Edelman is going to get a lot of attention from Peters and Talib. However, Edelman has a knack for getting open across the middle of the field. The mix-and-match running back unit of Michel, White, Burkhead, and\u00a0James Develin<\/a><\/strong> do an excellent job of drawing in opposing linebackers, leaving an exploitable gap in the defense.<\/p>\n

Safety First<\/h2>\n

New England will have to play it safe on third down to keep\u00a0Jared Goff<\/a><\/strong> and company off the field as much as possible.\u00a0The Patriots are going to dial up a lot of throws into areas where both Brady and his receivers have been consistently successful. That means\u00a0Phillip Dorsett<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>short on the left side, where he has a 76.4 percent success rate. It means\u00a0Chris Hogan<\/a><\/strong> deep up the left and over the middle.\u00a0It means Edelman and\u00a0Rob Gronkowski<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0virtually anywhere short, but especially over the middle and out right.<\/p>\n

Few Fast Breaks<\/h2>\n

One matchup to keep an eye on is John Johnson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>vs.\u00a0Gronk. The Rams have used Johnson to cover tight ends a lot this season, and he has fared pretty well. The young safety has allowed a 75.6 percent completion rate in coverage but hasn’t really allowed pass-catchers to get loose or get away from him. His tackling grade was one of the best in the NFL among safeties, according to Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

The Rams secondary as a whole has been excellent in terms of eliminating missed tackles\u00a0\u2014 Talib missed zero tackles during the regular season and\u00a0Lamarcus Joyner<\/a><\/strong> had similar success to Johnson’s\u00a0\u2014 which means that huge YAC plays will be hard to come by. This is certainly one area where\u00a0Josh Gordon<\/a><\/strong>‘s presence will be sorely missed this week.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>