One of our writers called the teams for the Super Bowl back in September. Will he get the winner correct this time too?

What the Patriots need to do to win

Block the Rams’ interior pass rush. Tom Brady’s passer rating has taken a significant dip against inside pressure compared to pressure from the edge this season. In Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and Michael Brockers, the Rams have the best interior defensive line in football. OC

What a mockery Bill Belichick makes of pro football. Sony Michel, James White and Rex Burkhead: eight touchdowns in two playoff games? The ground game which limits chances for Tom Brady to err also provides him with enough gas to crush you late. No reason to stop now. DL

How shapeshifter Bill Belichick has beaten a league built for parity for 18 years Read more

Force the Rams to put the game in Jared Goff’s hands. It’s been no secret that the run game has been key for Los Angeles: CJ Anderson has been one of the stories of the postseason and if Todd Gurley is healthy, he could be a game changer. Goff can be a great quarterback, but he has also had some miserable games during the regular season. Belichick may gamble on Goff having a poor performance rather than let the running backs eat up yards and potentially the clock. HF

The same as they have the last few weeks: establish the run early and deploy the same playcalling voodoo that made Chris Jones, Dee Ford, Justin Houston, Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa turn invisible to take Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh out of the game. Build long drives that ensure the Rams’ defenders are too tired to stop Brady from showing off in the fourth quarter. PB

What the Rams need to do to win

Get rid of the ball quickly. Jared Goff tends to hold onto the ball too long (the fifth-highest average in the league). New England’s defense struggles when the ball is out quickly, due to the lack of a consistent pass-rush. OC

LA’s young and talented roster includes the likes of Todd Gurley, who must bounce off of his exercise bike and into a run-establishing offense, right at the start. That’ll give Belichick less of an opportunity to throw confusing kitchen-sink coverages at LA’s kid QB, providing Goff with play-action paradise in the secondary. DL

Capitalize on the Patriots’ mistakes. New England have not been perfect in the playoffs. While they crushed the Los Angeles Chargers, they needed overtime to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game after throwing two interceptions. They also struggled more away from home, going 3-5 on the road in the regular season despite going undefeated at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots aren’t immune from committing a turnover in a big spot, and if they do the Rams are going to need to turn in into points. HF

Show us that the hitherto flawless New England offensive line is more vulnerable when you can bring pressure right up the middle instead of only off the edges. On the other side of the ball, alternate Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson to keep New England off-balance, and become the first team this postseason to win the time-of-possession battle against the Patriots. PB

Key player for the Patriots

The Patriots need a throwback game from Rob Gronkowski. He has been used more as a blocker than a pass-catcher this year, but he will have to be at his multi-dimensional best in what could be the final game of his career. OC

Will all eyes on Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and even James White, who Belichick called on early and often against the Chiefs, Phillip Dorsett will have his opportunities. The 26-year-old is reliable and should face a series of single coverage situations. That he’s virtually unknown outside New England makes him the ideal candidate to steal the Big Show. DL

There’s no need to get too cute with this prediction: Tom Brady. Since making his debut in the 2001 season, which ended with him leading the Patriots to a 20-17 win over the then-St Louis Rams in the Super Bowl, Brady has established himself as one of the greatest players in NFL history. Although he’s had a subpar season by his standards, and age may finally be catching up with him, he’s still dangerous and he knows this could be his last shot at his sixth ring. HF

Boring to say it, but it’s Brady. The real key to avoiding sacks is getting the ball out quickly and accurately, and the consistency with which he has found open team-mates on short drops the past couple of weeks is the reason New England have been so hard to stop. PB

Key player for the Rams

Aaron Donald is the best player in football. He has the ability to single-handedly dominate any game he plays. The Patriots will have to get creative with their gameplan to work around his brilliance. OC

If Aaron Donald is double covered than it may be up to Ndamukong Suh to do something the Chargers and Chiefs could not: pressure Brady in the pocket and put him on the ground. The Patriots’ offensive line have been spectacular, but this is a different challenge and Suh is the key to unlocking New England’s interior line. DL

New England’s offensive line is well aware of Aaron Donald, which means that they could be forced to pay extra attention to him. That, of course, would open things up for the likes of Ndamukong Suh or Cory Littleton to make a championship-sealing sack on Brady. Donald makes the whole Rams defense much more dangerous. Brady is a whole different player when he’s scared, and they have the personnel to scare him. HF

Aaron Donald. Brady is yet to be sacked on 90 dropbacks in this postseason. He has only been hit three times. If he stays as clean as that again, the Patriots will win. Aaron Donald is the best interior pass rusher in the league, and he needs to show it. PB

Unheralded player to watch

Trey Flowers. Flowers is the key to the Patriots’ hit-and-miss pass-rush. He finished third in the NFL in quarterback pressures per-game, ahead of the likes of Donald, JJ Watt, and Von Miller. OC

Rex Burkhead: a generic, lunch-pail running back who seems like the ideal prop pick. Of course he’ll score first. Of course he’ll score the Super Bowl winning touchdown. After injuries, he touched the ball 56 times all season, but he scored against the Chargers, and there he was against the Chiefs, racking up 41 key yards and running in the game-winning touchdown. Classic Belichick: beware the Burkhead. DL

Tyler Higbee. There’s always at least one semi-obscure offensive player who makes a huge reception in the Super Bowl. Just ask a Patriots fan about David Tyree (especially if you want to ruin their day). So, Higbee’s my suggestion. A 2016 fourth-round draft pick, the young tight end made a name for himself in the NFC Championship Game by catching a key touchdown that helped Los Angeles beat the New Orleans Saints, so don’t be shocked if Goff goes to him again if the Patriots defense swarms his more frequent targets. HF

I don’t know if you can really call either of them unheralded at this point, but I want to give a nod here to Greg Zuerlein and Johnny Hekker. Everybody was so busy talking about blown interference calls last week that we barely stopped to dwell on the fact that Greg The Leg had just kicked a 57-yard walk-off field goal to win a playoff game in overtime. This after tying the game up with a 48-yarder at the end of regulation. And the Rams might never have even had a shot without Hekker picking up a fourth-down fake punt completion. Don’t bet against Sean McVay pulling out another trick play, but even if he doesn’t, these two are the best kicking tandem in the league. PB

The final score will be…

New England Patriots 24-21 Los Angeles Rams. Every time the Patriots play in the Super Bowl it’s a close game. Their differential in Super Bowls in the Brady-Belichick era is +3; their largest margin of victory has been six points. This game will be no different. The Rams have elite-level talent all over the field on both sides of the ball, but I’m backing Brady and Belichick to pick out and exploit LA’s weaknesses. OC

New England Patriots 34-28 Los Angeles Rams. Considering the fast track under the dome in Atlanta and the points these teams have put up, you can expect video game levels of offense throughout. It only matters who has the ball last, and it’s Brady and Belichick: we all know the script by now. DL

New England Patriots 24-27 Los Angeles Rams. While it’s never wise to bet against the Patriots, it’s possible to say that they overachieved just to make it this far, coming out of one of their least impressive regular seasons of the Brady/Belichick era and requiring a coin flip to help them to beat the Chiefs. The Patriots Dynasty began with a three-point win over a very talented Rams team, it would be poetic for it to finish with a three-point loss to a Rams team that just so happens to also have a great young quarterback in Goff and a celebrated head coach in Sean McVay. HF

New England Patriots 31-33 Los Angeles Rams. Because (humblebrag alert) Rams over Patriots was my preseason pick for the Super Bowl, and I can’t come this far and back out now.