fenderbender123":2khut2r8 said:
The Rams.
I love the way they made it to the Super Bowl. The more butthurt people are about one silly no call the harder I will root for them.
RAMS.
Has everyone lost their memory and forgotten the "Tuck Rule" BS that gifted the Patriots a Super Bowl appearance, which they wound up winning? Why should the Rams pay for one botched call, BY THE REFS?
The Forty-Whiners still complain about the 2013 NFCCG and how the game was fixed for the Seahawks to win it. Several lame YouTube videos making the case that the league and refs fixed the game for the 'Hawks to win have millions of views. Do Seahawks fans go around apologizing for any good fortune, real or imagined, in that NFCCG? No, no, and HELL NO!! All we say is "SB 48 CHAMPS, BABY!!!"
What I saw in Rams at Saints NFCCG is that even after that ?purposely? botched PI call, it still took about a half-dozen fantastic plays by the Rams to get the win. Let's say 3 plays on the game-tying FG drive. No picnic there. Then, in OT, the Rams pass-rusher had to beat the Saints OL and get to Brees to affect the throw. Then, DB John Johnson had to locate the ball, and catch it, while basically on his back. Then Zeurlein had to make that LONG FG to win it. Yes, that missed PI was big, but things suck and your team has to play through it. The so-called "missed facemask" on Goff--to me, that was a proper no-call IMO. So not even a factor. Let's just say that the Rams made more plays after the missed PI fiasco than the Saints did. As the game showed, the teams were well-matched and both teams were "deserving".
Getting to the Super Bowl is HARD. Any road win in the NFL is a good win. Playoff road wins are the BEST.
Two times in the Pete Carroll era we've won HOME games to go to the Super Bowl.
What did it take at crunch time in those two NFCCG?
1) 2013 "The Tip", Sherman to Malcolm Smith, picking off Crapernick to preserve the win, and
2) 2014 "Ryan to Gilliam" fake punt TD, and "The onside kick" and an amazing, unlikely comeback to beat a Packers team that had flat kicked our asses all day up to that point. TWO trick plays it took to win that one.
The Rams will be a tougher matchup for the Patriots, IMO. They have the pass-rushers to get to Brady. I don't really see NE both stopping that Rams offense and putting up enough points to ice the game before crunch time. In 4th quarter crunch time, I expect to see the Rams Offense score multiple times on an exhausted Patriots D. When Brady has a chance for heroics, I expect to see Aaron Donald or Rams edge rushers affect Brady's throw(s) and either result in a pick or an incomplete that gives the ball back to Goff, Gurley & Co.
I'm glad the Rams are repping the NFC in the SB. I think they match up better with the Patriots than the Saints would have, primarily because of their pass rush and DL. As long as the Patriots lose, it's all good.