11. 2018 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at 6. 1973 LOS ANGELES RAMS
6. 1973 LOS ANGELES RAMS
Record: 12-2
Pythag: 12-2
Off: 1st
Def: 4th
1st NFC West
lost Div Rnd Cowboys 27-16
HC Chuck Knox OC Ken Meyer DC Ray Malavasi
LA Coliseum: 65 degrees
Dick Enberg
Offense
QB John Hadl 33 All Pro Kansas
RB Lawrence McCutcheon 23 Col St
FB Jim Bertlesen 23 Tex
WR Harold Jackson 27 All Pro Jack St
WR Jack Snow 30 N Dame
TE Bob Klein 26 USC
LT Charlie Cowan 35 N Mex Highlands
LG Tom Mack 30 Mich
C Ken Iman 34 SE Mo St
RG Joe Scibelli 34 AIU
RT John Williams 28 Minn
Defense
LDE Jack Youngblood 23 Florida
LDT Larry Brooks 23 Va St
RDT Merlin Olsen 33 Utah St
RDE Fred Dryer 27 S Diego St
LLB Ken Geddes 27 Nebraska
MLB Hacksaw Reynolds 26 Tenn
RLB Isiah Robertson All Pro 24 Southern
LCB Eddie McMillan 22 R Florida St
RCB Charlie Stukes 30 ME Shore
SS Dave Elmendorf 24 Tex A&M
FS Steve Preece 26 Ore St
K David Ray 29 Alabama
P Dave Chapple 26 UCSB
KR Cullen Bryant 22 Colorado
PR Jim Bertelesen 23 Texas
The '99 Rams, '21 Rams, '67 Rams, '51 Rams are all moving on; if this 6th seeded team from '73 wins, they'll match the Packers/Broncos as organizations with 5 teams having already advanced forward in 10 regions. 1st in offense, 4th in defense in '73, that's how a team that got bounced in the first round winds up with a home game against a Super Bowl Champion Patriots team. John Hadl is a 33 year old All Pro. 22 scores, 11 picks. 23 year old Lawrence McCutcheon rushed for nearly 11 yards in a dozen games. 27 year old Harold Jackson is an All Pro with 13 TDs. 24 year old Isiah Robertson is an All Pro on defense, 33 year old Merlin Olsen and 23 year old Jack Youngblood are half of the post Deacon Jones Fearsome Foursome.
11. 2018 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Record: 11-5
Pythag: 11-5
Off: 4th
Def: 7th
1st AFC East
d. Chargers Div Rnd 41-28
d. Chiefs AFC Title 37-31
d. Rams Super Bowl 13-3
HC Bill Belichick OC Josh McDaniels
Offense
QB Tom Brady 41 Mich
RB Sony Michel 23 R UGA
FB James Develin 30 Brown
WR Julian Edelman 32 Kent St
WR Josh Gordon 27 Baylor
TE Rob Gronkowski 29 Arizona
LT Trent Brown 25 Florida
LG Joe Thuney 26 NC St
C David Andrews 26 UGA
RG Shaq Mason 25 Geo Tech
RT Marcus Cannon 30 TCU
Defense
LDE Trent Flowers 25 Ark
LDT Lawrence Guy 28 Ariz St
RDT Malcolm Brown 24 Tex
RDE Deatrich Wise 24 Ark
LLB Dont'a Hightower 28 Alabama
MLB Kyle Van Noy 27 BYU
RLB Elandon Roberts 24 Houston
LCB Jason McCourty 31 Rutgers
RCB Stephon Gilmore 28 All Pro S Carolina
SS Patrick Chung 31 Oregon
FS Devin McCourty 31 Rutgers
K Stephen Gostkowski 34 Memphis
P Ryan Allen 28 La Tech
KR Cordarrelle Patterson 27 Tenn
PR Julian Edelman 32 Kent St
The '07 Patriots, '06 Patriots, '14 Patriots, '04 Patriots, '11 Patriots have all advanced - New England tries to move its 6th team forward with the 11th seed in Region 10, the 2018 Super Bowl Champs. 4th best offense in football - 41 year old Tom Brady had 31 scores and 11 picks. 28 year old Stephon Gilmore is the team's All Pro, 25 year old Trey Flowers had 7.5 sacks. Big crowd at the LA Coliseum for this one - let's go out to sunny Southern California for the kick.
1st Qtr
LA starts at the 33.
1/10 - Jim Bertelsen gets a carry, stopped at the line.
2/10 - Bertelsen again - LA is gonna run, run, run some more - 13 yard gain
1/10 - Lawrence McCutcheon gets 3.
2/7 - John Hadl's first attempt is a dozen yards to McCutcheon and LA is at the Patriot 39 yard line.
The drive dies - the punt is a touchback.
1/10 - Tom Brady opens with a pass to Chris Hogan, 15 yards.
And that's all. The next 3 plays lose 2 yards - after the kick it's Rams at the 31.
1/10 - McCutcheon goes for 13.
1/10 - Bertelsen for 11 -- run, run, run some more.
1/10 - John Hadl finds Harold Jackson, 22 yards -- Rams at the Patriot 23.
1/10 - McCutcheon for 4.
2/6 - Bertelsen gets 5, third and short
3/1 - McCutcheon picks it up.
1/10 - McCutcheon -- he's got a seam -- McCutcheon is going to go --- Into the EndZone...TOUCHDOWN RAMS - 7 plays, 6 of them runs - LA goes 69 yards for the game's first score.
Patriots at the 25. 3 and out.
Rams at the 37.
1/10 - 2 for McCutcheon.
2/8 - Incomplete
3/8 - Hadl finds Bob Klein right down the middle for a 21 yard gain to the Pats 40 and that's the end of the qtr.
2nd Qtr: Rams 7 Patriots 0
Run the ball, play tight defense - that's the LA formula and that's what we see so far. LA has a first down at the Pats 40.
1/10 - McCutcheon for 4.
2/6 - Rob Scribner for 9 yards, and now LA is at the 27.
1/10 - 4 for McCutcheon
2/6 - Hadl -- Hadl is looking for the endzone -- Harold Jackson -- TOUCHDOWN RAMS - John Hadl 22 yards to Harold Jackson - Rams go up 14-0.
Patriots at the 22. 3 and out.
Rams at the 22.
1/10 - Incomplete
2/10 - McCutcheon busts one - 47 yards -- Lawrence McCutcheon goes all the way to the Patriot 31. Rams up 14 and driving again.
1/10 - Bertlesen is stopped at the line.
2/10 - 6 for Bertlesen.
3/4 - Hadl - goes to Jack Snow - 17 yards and it's a first and goal at the 8.
1/goal - Bertelsen gets 2
2/goal - 4 for McCutcheon
3/goal - Rob Scribner plunges --- into the endzone --- TOUCHDOWN RAMS - and this is a rout; the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl and Chuck Knox and the '73 team is getting its revenge. 21-0.
Patriots at the 31.
1/10 - Tom Brady will be throwing the ball a lot the rest of the way. He hits James White for 10.
1/10 - Incomplete
2/10 - Brady hits Gronk, 15 yards to the Ram 44.
1/10 - Merlin Olsen sacks Brady, loses 3.
2/13 - Brady to Julian Edelman, another first down - Patriots at the 27.
1/10 - Brady to White, a dozen yards - Patriots at the 15.
The drive ends here, Jack Youngblood gets a sack - Gostkowski FG, 21-3.
Rams get the ball back at the 2 minute warning at the 37.
They run the ball 3 times, Patriots use all 3 timeouts - the drive takes just 59 seconds and the Patriots get the ball back at their own 28, 61 seconds left, out of timeouts.
1/10 - Brady dumps it off to Edelman, 3 yards, out of bounds. 55 seconds.
2/7 - Brady to Hogan - 10 yards to the 41 - Brady hurrying to the line, he quickly attempts a pass - incomplete. 36 seconds left.
2/10 - Incomplete
3/10 - Brady - 20 yards to Julian Edelman, he spikes the ball with 11 seconds left to stop the clock at the Rams 39.
2/10 - Brady -- Brady looking to the endzone -- Josh Gordon -- TOUCHDOWN PATRIOTS -- Brady 39 yards to Josh Gordon - that's the half - Patriots trying to climb back into this one.
3rd Qtr: Rams 21 Patriots 10
Pats score twice in the last couple of minutes of the half, they still trail LA by 11.
Patriots start at the 21.
1/10 - Incomplete
2/10 - Brady. Gronk. 17 yards.
1/10 - Brady - Gordon - 15 yards, I'll tell you what, since the Pats have completely abanoned the run game, just throwing on every play, they are really carving the Rams up.
1/10 - Brady sacked - Isiah Robertson gets him.
2/14 - Brady - Edelman, that's a first down -- Pats are at the Rams 35 yard line!
The drive ends -- long Gostkowski FG makes it 21-13, that's 13 straight points for New England on nearly all pass plays.
Rams at the 27.
1/10 - Bertelsen gets 3.
2/7 - Scribner gets 1 - Rams pick up penalties on the next two plays and it's now 3rd and 21 at the 16.
3/21 - Hadl - out to Bertelsen - Bertelsen breaks tackles- gets a block -- Bertelsen is going to run for a 24 yard gain - the Rams were on their heels, their 21-0 lead down to 21-13, Rams deep in their own end on a third and forever -- but they pick it up and are at their own 40.
1/10 - McCutcheon gets 2
2/8 Bertelsen loses 2.
3/10 -- Hadl -- Hadl looks to go deep - he finds Harold Jackson -- that's a big gain, 34 yards -- and Patrick Chung picks up a personal foul with a face mask - thats nearly 50 yards, Rams are all the way down to the 13 yard line! Another huge third down conversion for Hadl.
1/10 - Bertelsen gets 2
2/8 - Bertelsen stopped at the line.
3/8 - Hadl. McCutcheon in space -- McCutcheon's gonna go --- Into the Endzone -- TOUCHDOWN RAMS -- John Hadl with the 11 yard score to Lawrence McCutcheon and once again it's a 15 point LA lead with less than 6 to play in the third.
Patriots at the 34 - they get a first down on a 15 yard Sony Michel run -- but that's all, after the punt - LA is at their own 16 yard line.
2 straight Trey Flowers sacks and LA is back at their own 7 yard line as the qtr ends.
4th Qtr: Rams 28 Patriots 13
The Pats looked like they might be getting back into this one; they scored 13 straight, had LA pinned deep - but a couple of big third down conversions and then a long pass to Harold Jackson with a personal foul tacked on got LA in position to add another score.
Rams have 3rd and 19 at their own 7.
They don't pick it up. Pats will start at the LA 46.
They get 2 first downs - 14 yards from Brady to Patterson, 24 yards from Brady to Hogan - but the drive ends, Gostkowski with the FG and its 28-16.
Gostkowski with the onside kick...it isnt successful, Rams will take over at the Patriot 47; two runs will then move them back 6 yards.
3/16 - Rams staying on the ground, up 12, looking to kill some clock -- but they get more than that- Lawrence McCutcheon runs for 19 -- goes all the way to the Patriot 34 yard line, just a little more than 7 minutes left now and that should be that.
Rams spend the next 3 minutes running right at the Patriots, play after play, winding the clock to under 4 minutes to go, the drive ending on a Hadl 6 yard TD pass to Harold Jackson TOUCHDOWN RAMS - it is all over today - the LA Rams will move on and face the '98 Broncos in round 2. LA joins the Patriots, Packers, Broncos with 5 teams safely into round 2.
Pats start at the 30 - they get first downs on two Brady to Edelman passes, 20 yds and 10 yds - but the drive ends with LA's 4th sack of the day, Hacksaw Reynolds getting Brady - victory formation for Hadl and it is over.
Final: Rams 35 Patriots 16
We once thought that modern day passing teams might just be too much for the old school running teams and that has not borne out at all. In fact, teams that rely more on the run maybe are having more success as we near the end of region 10.
Hadl: 10 for 15 160 yards 3 TD
Brady: 20 for 28 285 yds 1 TD
McCutcheon 19 carries, 129 yds, 3 catches, 27 yds, 1 TD/1 INT
Michel: 16 carries, 29 yds
Jackson: 5 catches, 92 yds, 2 TD
Edelman: 6 catches, 85 yds
Player of the Game: Lawrence McCutcheon
