David Carr predicted this Super Bowl matchup in August. Now, here’s his key to Rams win

I had the Rams beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl back in August, and we’ll stick with that prediction with the countdown to kickoff winding down.

Rams coach Sean McVay has done a great job in just two seasons. But the reason they’re in the Super Bowl is Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Dante Fowler and Michael Brockers. That defensive line has changed everything.

Before their divisional playoff win against the Cowboys, all the talk was, “Teams can run the football on the Rams. They’re in the bottom half of the league in rushing defense. That’s what the Cowboys should do.” But then the Rams came out and completely shut down the Cowboys’ run game, and it was the same thing against the Saints in the NFC championship game. Alvin Kamara had some catches out of the backfield, but, the Saints had just 48 rushing yards – Mark Ingram had 31, Kamara had 15. When they really had it rolling during the season, winning 10 in a row, the Saints averaged almost three times that.

That Rams defensive line is so intriguing because when you look at teams that have had success against the Patriots, they have all had defensive lines that can get to the quarterback rushing with four and the ability to be physical outside with receivers.

The Rams played sound defense in the playoffs, and getting cornerback Aqib Talib back from his ankle injury obviously has helped them in the back end.

For the Rams to win Sunday, they have to stop the run early, put the game into Tom Brady’s hands and then they take their chances with their secondary.

Patriots’ strength

When you look at the Patriots’ side of the ball, a lot is made of Brady and how he’s never out of a football game, and that’s 100 percent accurate. At this point in his career, he never sees a scenario that he hasn’t been through before, so nothing is going to surprise him. He’s in his ninth Super Bowls.

But the Patriots are here because they’ve turned back the clock on how they play football.

They’re not overly reliant on their 41-year-old quarterback. We’ve seen a lot more I-formation from them. James Develin, their fullback, is on the field a lot more. Sony Michel has five rushing touchdowns in the playoffs, and eight of the Patriots’ 10 touchdowns against San Diego and Kansas City came on the ground. It’s really unique. Look at the way they beat the Chiefs – they got into the red zone, handed the ball off in the I-formation and just pounded it into the end zone.

That goes right at the strength of the Rams, at least through the playoffs.

What to watch for

Sunday, the Patriots will tell you right away what they think about that matchup.

Sure, coach Bill Belichick says Donald is unblockable. But does Belichick believe it? On the first series, see if the Patriots say, in effect, “OK, we’re going to run the football at you. We’ve done this all year with Sony Michel. We’re going to line up in the I-formation and run it.” If they feel like they can block Suh and Donald and create some running lanes, if they like their matchup with tight end Rob Gronkowski on the ends and Develin is out there, then Patriots fans should feel pretty good about their team’s confidence.

Or, will they know that’s not their strength in this matchup? If that happens, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brady in an empty formation, going no-huddle, driving his team down the field and scoring on the first drive.

That would be a very Brady/Belichick thing to do.

This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 4:26 PM with the headline "David Carr predicted this Super Bowl matchup in August. Now, here’s his key to Rams win."