Rams Team Breakdown: What to Look for in the Super Bowl

 As we are now under a week to go to the big game, we are finally going to start breaking down the match-up for all of the marbles! Today, we will dive into the Rams and tomorrow we will dive into the Bengals. Then on Saturday before the game, we will release our official score prediction! Here is everything to know about the NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams...

Overall Overview: The Rams were the 4th seed in the NFC and after a turbulent end to the season, not many people saw them actually finding their way to the big game. Hell, I had them losing round 1 as well. The Rams have rallied to three straight victories including the last two which took some serious guts to come out on top of. They are led by hungry young HC Sean McVay, first year Ram QB Matthew Stafford, and perennial top defensive player DT Aaron Donald. This is a star-studded roster that reflects the bright shining Hollywood which is just mere miles away from the crown jewel, SoFi Stadium. This is a hard team to prepare for to say the least.

Offense

At Quarterback, it's Matthew Stafford. Stafford was a former no. 1 overall pick when he came out of Georgia years ago, but he's been stuck in Detroit for much of his career. Sean McVay changed the outlook of his entire career by giving up two future 1st-round picks to land the disgruntled star. He has been a revelation for the Rams. While he has up and down play all year, he has brought this team to new heights that Jared Goff was unable to achieve. Stafford threw 4,886 yards, 41 TDs, and 17 INTs this season. All of those numbers were top 5 for QBs in the NFL (including the rough 17 INTs). Stafford has a cannon for an arm and can drop the ball in the bucket whenever he wants, he just doesn't always make the best decision. The kind of game we see from Stafford in the Super Bowl is going to dictate if the Rams win or lose.

Wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. lead the way for the Rams passing attack. I don't need to really say this again, but Kupp is coming off one of the single greatest WR seasons we've ever seen. He is likely to be open any time Stafford drops back. OBJ was a mid-season addition when he was bought out in Cleveland, and he has looked like his old self again in a Rams jersey. Kupp is the WR1 and big play guy while Beckham gets a lot of the intermediate balls and slowly but surely works the defense. They are going to be quite tough to stop. 

The Rams' offensive line is one of the league's best. PFF ranked them as the league's 7th best offensive line at the end of the season. Bookend tackles Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein give Stafford all the time in the world to unload the football. The Bengals' D line is going to have a hard time moving them around. 

While it's anyone's guess as to who will lead the way in the Super Bowl, the Rams employ a true three-headed monster at running back with bruiser Sony Michel, elusive back Cam Akers, and do-it-all guy Darrell Henderson. I think we will see a healthy mix of all 3 in the big game. Look for Michel in the short yardage and 3rd down and Akers for the outside zone work. 

Defense

As good as this offense might seem, the defense is probably even better. DC Raheem Morris has done a phenomenal job coordinating this unit all season long, and has turned up the heat in the post-season. The defensive line is STACKED! Aaron Donald is going to be the name you hear all night long. Even when he isn't getting sacks, he is forcing constant pressure and shifting the offensive line he is facing. Donald commanding a double-team makes it a lot more stressful in trying to protect the other menaces the Rams deploy on the same line. The mid-season trade for former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller has payed off so far. Miller had 5 sacks in the second-half of the season that he played for the Rams in and has added another 2 in the post-season run along with a forced fumble. He's been to the big game and dominated it before, he might just have it in him again...
Don't forget about other edge rusher Leonard Floyd either. Floyd has tallied another 10.5 sacks during this season for the Rams and is just another guy that the Bengals are going to have to worry about behind their shaky o-line. 

Linebacker is definitely the weak point of this defense, and where they hope the Bengals will not be able to exploit. Aside from young LB Ernest Jones who has been a bit of a revelation for this team so far this year, they are pretty bare at that position. The elite defensive line along with secondary that they have bails it out, but it is definitely a position group that this team isn't feeling too confident with. 

This secondary is also elite. Lead by heart and soul Jalen Ramsey, the Rams are trying to create their own take on Denver's 2015 'No Fly Zone'. Ramsey has been and continues to be a top 3 corner in the NFL. You will rarely see him get burned or make a bad play, and teams tend to not target him as much as you would see pretty much any other CB targeted. However, Joe Burrow does not shy away from a challenge and will probably test Ramsey more than usual, so he could be in line for a heavy workload on the outside. He routinely holds passers to astoundingly low ratings. Darious Williams is the team's CB2, and he will be someone to watch for as well. He was excellent in 2020, but hasn't been so good of late, particularly in this playoff run. The Bengals have one of the best receiving cores in the game and will likely look to exploit the undersized Williams as often as possible. The game could come down to if he is up for the challenge or not. At safety, former Washington man Taylor Rapp has brought some excellent juice. Same with Eric Weddle, who has come out of retirement for this Ram playoff run and been awesome. The Bengals could look to go at the 37-year old as well, and it will be seen if he still really has it or not.

Reason Rams could Win: I think the top reason that the Rams could win this game is due to their elite defensive line. The Bengals trot out one of the VERY worst offensive lines in the league, just turn on the Titans game tape if you don't believe me. Joe Burrow got sacked a playoff record 9 times in that one, somehow the Bengals still won. The Titans D-line looks like pop warner level compared to this Rams' D-line. Aaron Donald might be the best defensive lineman ever. Von Miller is a former Super Bowl MVP quarterback punisher. Can't forget about that man Leonard Floyd either (who I think could have a dark-horse chance at SB MVP). If the Rams can get in Joe Burrow's face all night long and bring him down even 5 times, it will be hard for the Bengals to hang on.

Reason Rams could Lose: Matthew Stafford's inconsistency. Stafford finished the regular season out on a four-game streak of throwing one or more INTs. He then cleaned it up for the first two rounds of the playoffs before throwing two (and should have been 3) in the NFC title game victory. When he's throwing picks, the Rams look really different, and not in a good way at all. If Stafford gets riled up throwing the football and causes some turnovers, this could be a very tough one for the Rams to wind up winning. 

X-Factor - WR Van Jefferson: The Rams' biggest X-factor player in this game is WR Van Jefferson almost without a doubt to me. He has quickly emerged as one of the very best WR3's in the NFL this season, and the Rams offense has benefitted massively from it. Jefferson is a big bodied receiver with hands that feel like glue sometimes, and always finds a seam in the defense. The Bengals aren't insanely deep at corner so he could find himself in some very favorable match-ups all night long. Look for him to pull in 1-2 big bombs that could change the tides of this game.

Important In-Game Match-Ups

Rams CB Darious Williams vs. Bengals WRs: The match of Darious Williams on various Bengals' receivers may make or break this game for either side. Williams has been the definition of inconsistent for the Rams during this post-season run but they are going to need him to step up BIG-TIME vs the elite receiving core of Cinncy. Williams should see time against all 3 of their main targets in Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. How he fares in those match-ups could be the story of this game. Remember, at times, both the Bucs and Niners were purposely throwing at/picking on Williams during their games...

LB Ernest Jones on Bengals' RBs/TEs: One more match to really look for in this game for the Rams is top LB Ernest Jones guarding guys in the intermediate parts of the field like TEs CJ Uzomah/Drew Sample and RBs Joe Mixon/Samajae Perine. If the Ram D-line is getting to Burrow quickly, the team could adjust to throwing quick passes in the middle of the field to the RBs and TEs. If the Rams want to win, Ernest Jones and co. will be forced to step up and not give up big plays in the middle of the field. It is going to be interesting to see what the team does on that front.

For the Rams to win, expect...

-A big game out of Cooper Kupp
Kupp has been a menace all year long for the Rams, making 10 receptions and 100+ yards along with a TD a near lock every week. If the Rams win, Kupp is going to get open for some chunk plays

-Pass rush to get home
Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Leonard Floyd can all get a sack or more and this game could be as good as won for the Rams. If everyone is feasting and playing with extreme confidence, winning this one will be tough for the Rams

-Matthew Stafford plays a clean game
Stafford is going to need to not throw a pick in this one. Everytime he doesn't throw a pick, the Rams seem to coast to victory, him playing turnover free football would be big

-Matt Gay to continue to be MONEY
An underrated storyline in this game is how good both Kickers have been. McPherson of the Bengals has taken the spotlight with his rookie kicking success in the post-season, but Gay has been arguably the best kicker in the entire NFL all season long. Gay missed just two kicks in the entire regular season, but has also missed two in the post-season which has been surprising. If Gay goes 100% in this game, the Rams will likely be on top