Many of Super Bowl LIII’s stars won’t be playing in Thursday’s Patriots-Rams rematch
Over half of the starters in Super Bowl LIII will not play in Thursday's game.
The Patriots and Rams are set to face off Thursday evening for the first time since the Patriots’ 13-3 win over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. While that game was just 20 months ago, a lot has changed since then for both teams.
If you’ve paid even an ounce of attention to the NFL this season, you’d realize Tom Brady isn’t the Patriots’ starting quarterback anymore. Brady, who completed 21 of 35 passes for 262 yards in Super Bowl LIII, left New England for Tampa Bay this past offseason. To replace him, the Patriots signed Cam Newton, who is 6-5 in games he’s started this season.
Since Sean McVay became the Rams’ head coach in 2017, Newton has faced them just once. In the 2019 season-opener, Newton completed 25 of 38 passes for just 239 yards. He didn’t add anything on the ground, rushing for -2 yards on three carries. Following the Panthers’ Week 2 loss, it was revealed Newton had a Lisfranc fracture, which ultimately ended his season.
“He’s a guy that can beat you in a variety of ways,” McVay told reporters of Newton. “He’s such a physical presence. I think Coach [Josh] McDaniels and Coach [Jedd] Fisch have done an excellent job of being able to accommodate his skillset and make their offense mold to what he does best. That changes by the week based on how they feel like it’s the best way to attack that opponent. Certainly, that will present a great challenge for our defense, but looking forward to seeing how these guys answer the bell.”
Brady’s departure isn’t the only change in the Patriots’ passing game between Super Bowl LIII and today. Rob Gronkowski retired after the Patriots’ win, only to join Brady in Tampa this offseason. Gronkowski arguably made the play of the game when he caught a 29-yard pass from Brady in the fourth quarter that put the Patriots at the Rams’ 2-yard line, setting them up for the game’s lone touchdown.
In addition to Gronkowski, Super Bowl LIII MVP Julian Edelman will not take part in Thursday’s game. Edelman, who caught 10 passes for 141 yards, hasn’t left New England but has been on injured reserve since Oct. 31.
While the Patriots’ passing game has taken a hit, they bolster a strong running attack heading into Week 14. They’re averaging 150.9 rushing yards per game, good for third-best in the league. However, Sony Michel, who rushed for 94 yards and scored the game’s only touchdown in Super Bowl LIII as a rookie, hasn’t been a major part of that. Michel saw his first carries since Week 3 on Sunday, rushing for only 35 yards on 10 carries.
In Michel’s place, Damien Harris has stepped up as the Patriots’ top running back. Harris is averaging 71.2 rushing yards per game in nine games this season, adding two touchdowns. Newton’s also been a force in the Patriots’ ground game, rushing for 11 touchdowns this season.
While the Rams dumped longtime defensive mastermind Wade Phillips following the 2019 season, Los Angeles holds the league’s second-best defense this season. Two-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald is still in town, but was mostly silenced in Super Bowl LIII, recording just five tackles and a QB hit in that game.
Outside of Donald, not much of the Rams’ defense from 2018 has remained. Seven of their starters on defense in Super Bowl LIII have departed.
A lot of the Rams’ changes on defense came in the secondary. Cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, who recorded a combined 11 tackles in Super Bowl LIII, were dumped by the Rams during the 2019 season after they traded for three-time Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey. Starting cornerback Darious Williams, who wasn’t active for Super Bowl LIII, is tied for the fourth-most interceptions this season with four and rookie free safety Jordan Fuller has three picks himself.
Linebacker Cory Littleton, who had a game-high 10 tackles in Super Bowl LIII, ditched the Rams for the Raiders this past offseason. Replacing Littleton are linebackers Troy Reeder and Leonard Floyd. Reeder, who signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2019, has 46 tackles this season and Floyd, who signed with the Rams prior to the season, has seven sacks in 2020.
“They’re obviously a very good defense,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told reporters Monday of his upcoming opponent. “They are the top of the league in almost every category. They’re hard to move the ball against.”
Flipping things around, the Rams still have the same quarterback they had two seasons ago. Jared Goff completed only 19 of 38 passes for 229 yards in Super Bowl LIII. After struggling in 2019, Goff has bounced back a bit in 2020, throwing for 3,372 yards and 17 touchdowns. He still has Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Josh Reynolds to throw to. However, Kupp didn’t play in Super Bowl LIII due to a torn ACL.
A 351-yard performance by QB1.@JaredGoff16‘s top plays from the win! #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/6sMRYfC6AQ
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 7, 2020
Goff realizes that things have changed since the last time the two teams faced.
“I think there’s not many parallels that you can draw from that game and this game, the teams are so different,” Goff told reporters Tuesday. “Our offense is different. Their defense is different. So, it’s not like add Cooper and it’s fixed. Obviously, we love having Cooper back, but they’ll give us some challenges and we’ll be ready for it and it’ll be a good game.”
Goff has lost Brandin Cooks since then. Cooks caught a team-high eight catches for 120 yards against his old team in Super Bowl LIII, but was traded to the Texans this past offseason.
Running backs Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson are also out of Los Angeles. Gurley, who ran for only 35 yards in the last matchup, was cut by the Rams last offseason and later signed with the Falcons. Anderson left the Rams for the Lions in 2019 and later retired from football.
“Offensively, it’s a lot of the core things that we saw a couple years ago, but Sean’s broadened the offense,” Belichick said of the Rams’ offense. “He’s brought in some different things, and of course seeing Kupp in this game. We didn’t see him two years ago. He certainly makes a big difference.”
When Goff goes under center for the first time on Thursday, he’ll see a Patriots defense that’s noticeably different since the time he saw them. Six of the Patriots’ defensive starters in Super Bowl LIII will not be playing on Thursday.
Linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who had a game-high two sacks in Super Bowl LIII, and safety Patrick Chung opted out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Defensive lineman Trey Flowers and Malcolm Brown plus linebacker Kyle Van Noy have all signed deals with different teams since that game. Brian Flores, who was the Patriots’ linebacker coach and called their defensive plays that season, left New England after that game to become the Dolphins’ head coach.
Hightower came in hot 😳😳😳 @zeus30hightower pic.twitter.com/oZ8vRHRvEK
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) February 4, 2019
All in all, Belichick realizes that Thursday’s game will be a different game than Super Bowl LIII.
“There’s certainly some familiar faces, but there’s quite a few differences too,” Belichick said. “Two new coordinators on defense and special teams. We didn’t see (Rams wide receiver Cooper) Kupp. Defensively, there’s certainly some new faces there too. But, corners (Jalen) Ramsey and Darious Williams and those guys are pretty good. Really, we’re more focused on what we have now and not worry about too much about what happened a couple of years ago. It just really doesn’t matter too much right now.”
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