Stars und Sternchen! » threw for a week leading up to the Pro Bowl a

The previous time the Rams played in a Super Bowl http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-austin-bryant-jersey , the opponent was New England. It didn’t work out so well for the then-St. Louis team.The Patriots, of course, have made a habit of being in the NFL championship game — this is their eighth since that 2002 victory over the Greatest Show On Turf.Here’s how they’ll match up in Atlanta:WHEN NEW ENGLAND HAS THE BALLThanks to a dominating line led by LT Trent Brown (77), C David Andrews (60) and RG Shaq Mason (69), Tom Brady (12) barely was touched and never was sacked by Kansas City in the AFC title game. And the Chiefs led the league in sacks. If that group can be just as stout against All-Pro DT Aaron Donald, the only unanimous choice for the squad, Ndamukong Suh (93) and Michael Brockers (90), Brady could have another one of his MVP performances. However, the secondary he’ll face this time is far superior to what the Chiefs put on the field, particularly with cornerbacks Aqib Talib (21) and Marcus Peters (22) — and backup Nickell Robey-Coleman (23), he of the now-infamous helmet-hit pass interference non-call against the Saints.Those two must be aggressive at the line of scrimmage against WRs Julian Edelman (11) and Chris Hogan (15), who were so open on some routes against Kansas City it looked like a passing drill.The other intriguing matchup here is TE Rob Gronkowski (87) against safeties Lamarcus Joyner (20) and John Johnson III (43), who are physical enough to deal with Gronk, but it’s a wearying and thankless task.And there’s this for LA to deal with: Rookie Sony Michel (26) has become a ground force with his power and instincts. Fellow RB James White (28) is one of the best receivers out of the backfield in the league, and third-stringer Rex Burkhead (34) scored twice Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , including the winning TD for the AFC crown.Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will challenge Brady with his schemes, but LA must disrupt the QB’s timing and comfort zone. Brady’s O-line has to prevent that.WHEN LOS ANGELES HAS THE BALLMichel’s former teammate at Georgia, All-Pro RB Todd Gurley (30), has been battling knee issues. While late-season pickup C.J. Anderson (35) has been masterful, the Rams need a healthy and productive Gurley for the Super Bowl. At least he’s had extra time to heal.Gurley led the NFL with 21 TDs and ranked fourth with 1,831 yards from scrimmage. He’d be a handful as a receiver for Patriots LBs Dont’a Hightower (54) and Kyle Van Noy (53), who comes off a superb outing in Kansas City. So one of the DBs, perhaps safeties Devin McCourty (32) or Patrick Chung (23), could get some assignments.The Rams want to have balance on offense, and they certainly have the options in the passing game with Jared Goff (16) throwing to WRs Robert Woods (17), Brandin Cooks (12) and rapidly developing Josh Reynolds (83). Cooks will be eager for a big game after the Patriots dealt him to LA last offseason. He’ll likely see plenty of All-Pro CB Stephon Gilmore, who struggled a bit in KC.New England managed four sacks of Patrick Mahomes and the Rams can’t be that generous if they expect to carry off the Lombardi Trophy. Steady linemen LT Andrew Whitworth (77), LG Rodger Saffold (76) and RT Rob Havenstein (79) must hold their own against DE Trey Flowers (98), Van Noy and the guys on the interior for New England.Goff vs. Brady would seem a mismatch. But Goff and his team beat Drew Brees for the NFC title.SPECIAL TEAMSWhat more can Greg The Leg do? Well, LA placekicker Greg Zuerlein (4) could follow his clutch work in the Big Easy with a Super Bowl-winning boot.Rams P Johnny Hekker (6) converted a fake punt for a first down at New Orleans and has one of the most powerful legs in the league.The Rams aren’t exceptional on returns http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-ben-banogu-jersey , but they aren’t inept, either. JoJo Natson (19) has handled most of the punt runbacks, while Blake Countess (24) is the kick returner.The Patriots are more likely to break something in the return game with Cordarrelle Patterson (84) on kickoffs. New England features the usually reliable Edelman on punts, although he did — or didn’t — fumble one against the Chiefs.Stephen Gostkowski (3) has made more pressure attempts than nearly any current NFL placekicker this side of record-setter Adam Vinatieri, and Ryan Allen (6) does a solid job punting.COACHINGSeeing how the Patriots dominated the Chiefs early on both sides of the ball, OC Josh McDaniels and unofficial DC Brian Flores had a superb game plan. But KC began moving the ball almost at will in the second half, and the Rams are capable of the same. That makes for a key question: Can LA slow down the precision passing and powerful/slashing running of Michel?LA coach Sean McVay is the hot commodity on the pro football market. Every team looking for a new head coach has at least investigated people who’ve worked with McVay, who just turned 33. He’s innovative, aggressive and, in some ways, one of the guys, something New England’s Bill Belichick most definitely isn’t.INTANGIBLESThe Patriots are so experienced in this environment. Nothing that happens in Atlanta during Super Bowl week is likely to bother them. Same thing probably will apply when they get on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium field.Brady, 41, will be the oldest starting QB in Super Bowl history. A sixth title would tie the Patriots with the Steelers for most in the Super Bowl era.The Rams could energize the Los Angeles area about the NFL with a championship just three seasons into their return to Hollywood. They won the Super Bowl once, but representing St. Louis in the 2000 game. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Luck spent three offseasons fighting his way back from injuries. Now he can reap the reward.After returning to the field Parris Campbell Jersey , making it back to the playoffs, regaining his Pro Bowl form and collecting The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award, a healthy Luck now intends to take a rare and well-deserved break from football.“I’ll be honest, I probably won’t throw for a while,” he said before cleaning out his locker. “There will be tweaks, there will be changes to what I do (this offseason) but all of it is geared to one, make me as happy as possible and two, set me up to improve as a quarterback and improve as a person.”How Luck will spend his downtime is unclear.Peyton Manning broke the monotony with hunting trips. Brett Favre worked on his ranch. Tom Brady won a Super Bowl after changing last year’s offseason routine to spend more time with his family and less on football. They all learned throwing more balls doesn’t necessarily make a better quarterback.Matt Hasselbeck, a three-time Pro Bowler who backed up Favre and Luck during his 17-year career, became a believer. So after hearing a story about Manning meeting a former U.S. president one offseason, Hasselbeck accepted an offer from assistant coach Clyde Christensen to spend time with a Navy admiral.“He talked to us in our quarterback meeting one day about protecting the football because we’d had some issues and he used this analogy of what they tell Top Gun pilots,” Hasselbeck said. “It was basically that you have this great plane you get to fly and it does not belong to you. It belongs to the government, it belongs to the people. Clyde said we should take the admiral up on spending some time with him. So I did that one offseason.“That’s an example of something that’s not necessarily X’s and O’s but it’s a form of leadership training or just working on you and if you’re working on you, you’re improving everything about you.”It was a message Hasselbeck relayed to Luck after joining the Colts in 2013. But it was a hard sell to a young workout warrior with the pressure and expectations of a No. 1 draft pick.While Luck enjoyed vacationing in Europe, where he spent part of his childhood reading books http://www.ravenscheapstores.com/miles-boykin-jersey-cheap , following soccer and riding bikes, the desire to improve drove him to work out.In time, Hasselbeck’s message sank in.“When we were first teammates, I told him there are going to be some years that are fun and they’re easy and you’re healthy the whole year,” said Hasselbeck, who now works for ESPN. “There’s going to be other years when it’s miserable and you’re dealing with something the whole year and you’re in the training room all the time. You’re there early and you’re there late and you’re in pain and you’re on drugs.“That conversation came up when I was talking about how long I wanted to play. This year we were talking and Andrew said ‘I remember you saying it and it didn’t make sense then.’ He said now it totally makes sense.”Luck’s good year came with 16 starts for the first time since 2014, producing career highs in completions, attempts and completion percentage. He finished second to Patrick Mahomes in touchdown passes, helped the Colts end a three-year playoff drought and found a better balance between life and football.Still, taking a break won’t be easy.“I don’t think he’s really going to get away,” longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. “I think it’s so cool he’s not going to have to recover from an injury or have to get healthy first. He’ll probably try to get away, but he’s like me — after a short time you’ve got to find a gym or somewhere to work out because otherwise you feel like garbage.”The difference is the 20-month gap between regular-season games following surgery on a partially torn labrum and three successive injury-plagued offseasons have changed Luck’s perspective.He never missed a chance to explain how much fun he had last season and acknowledged things felt different after a season-ending loss to Kansas City.“In past seasons, there has been a massive emotional letdown — like now I can try to be a good boyfriend or now I can try to do this and that,” he said. “But it doesn’t seem that way this year. One of my challenges for myself was to maybe not silo everything in my life so much but be able to exist as a happy human throughout a season, not just after the season. So I don’t have this http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-bobby-okereke-jersey Jersey , I guess desire, to run away and hide for a couple weeks.”Instead, he threw for a week leading up to the Pro Bowl and attended the NFL’s honors banquet last week.Luck hasn’t said if he will work out again at Stanford, his alma mater, but acknowledged he’ll continue to work with Tom House, the former Major League Baseball pitcher who has helped him in the past. But the Colts remain convinced the best prescription for Luck is rest.“He’s got to be fired up right now to have a normal offseason,” coach Frank Reich said. “To get away and I know he’s Andrew — he’s still going to do his deal and be disciplined — but just relax. My encouragement to him would be, ‘You better do that, you better take advantage of it.'”