Super Bowl 2019: Location, Point Spread and Picks for Patriots vs. Rams

The thrill (or agony) of the conference championship games has not started to fade from the public consciousness yet, but the Super Bowl is 12 days away and will soon dominate the stage.

The New England Patriots are back where they usually are as they will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The Pats did not have a spectacular regular season, as they finished 11-5 and lost five of eight road games, but they have turned it up a couple of notches in the postseason with victories over the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Los Angeles Rams have made dramatic progress the past two years under head coach Sean McVay, and they dominated the NFC West this season. They earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff structure, and they won the conference championship on the road after overcoming a 13-0 deficit against the New Orleans Saints.

While they were the beneficiary of a missed non-pass interference call late in the fourth quarter, they still had to take advantage of that opportunity. Jared Goff and the offense did just that, and placekicker Greg Zuerlein kicked a 48-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

Zuerlein later blasted the Rams into the Super Bowl with his 57-yard game-winning field goal in the extra period, and that was one of the greatest clutch kicks in NFL history.

The Patriots and Rams will meet in Atlanta February 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET to determine this year's NFL champion. Super Bowl LIII will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a facility that opened its doors in 2018.

The story lines are plentiful, including a repeat of Super Bowl XXXVI following the 2000 season when a young quarterback named Tom Brady teamed with head coach Bill Belichick to engineer a 20-17 upset over "The Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams.

Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri finished off that victory when he hit a 48-yard field goal on the game's final play to give New England its first Super Bowl championship.

The Patriots are playing to win their sixth Super Bowl title in this matchup with the Rams, and that would tie them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most wins in the big game if they are successful.

Another aspect of this game is the young guns vs. the old men tag team aspect of the game. Goff and McVay will take on Brady and Belichick, and that will give fans, sportswriters and talk-show hosts plenty to debate as kickoff gets closer.

The belief here is that the old men still have a bit of an edge, and that's largely because Brady has been sensational during the postseason while Goff has been lukewarm

Brady has completed 71.1 percent of his passes in the two playoff games against the Chargers and Chiefs, and he is averaging 345.5 yards per game, while Goff has completed 58.8 percent of his postseason passes and has thrown for 241.5 yards per game.

McVay is thought of as one of the most innovative young coaches in the league, while Belichick may be the best head coach in NFL history. His five Super Bowl titles allow him to make that claim, and even if he is not the all-time best, he is the equal of Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Paul Brown and Bill Walsh.

McVay admires the Patriots organization and Belichick. "A lot of respect for them. They’ve been doing it as consistently as any organization in the history of this league," McVay said, per Andrew Mahoney of the Boston Globe. "Gotten a chance to get to know coach [Bill] Belichick a little bit. Had a relationship with Josh McDaniels. Really, we practiced against those guys when I was in Washington early on and kind of kept in contact with them."

The Patriots are two-point favorites over the Rams, per OddsShark. Shortly after the Patriots won the AFC title in Kansas City Sunday night, the Rams were installed as one-point favorites but the early money led the linemakers to reverse their initial call.

The total in the game is 57.5 points, which is quite high for an NFL game but makes sense with two high-scoring teams involved.

The Patriots are -150 favorites on the money line, while the Rams the +130 underdogs. Bettors who favor New England must risk $150 to win $100, while Rams backers bet $100 to win $130.

Prediction

The Rams are an extremely talented team, and McVay has been an ideal coach for them. He has brought out the best of their offensive players, and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips remains one of the top defensive coaches in the game.

If the Rams are going to keep the Patriots from winning their sixth Super Bowl, Phillips will have to coax the best game out of the Los Angeles defense. The combination of defensive linemen Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh can be formidable, and Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels must figure out a way to limit both men.

Give the Patriots a slight edge here, and Brady also has the edge over Goff. It's difficult to see the Rams quarterback remaining calm and cool for 60 minutes, and the overwhelming nature of the Super Bowl could cause a few problems at the start of the game.

Look for the Patriots to build a sizable lead and then hold off the Rams. New England wins Super Bowl LIII by a 33-27 margin.

The Pats cover the spread, and the over comes through for total bettors.