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Five Card Charlie's Sportsbook
New England Patriots (13-5) vs. St. Louis Rams (16-2) Super Bowl XXXVl, the first ever to be played in February, pits the Cinderella New England Patriots against the heavily favored St. Louis Rams. Bill Belichick's Patriots have played sensational football since Tom Brady was inserted into the starting lineup. They got the ticket to Cajun Country by defeating Oakland and then Pittsburgh last week in the AFC Championship. St. Louis has been explosive from week one, winning 16 of 18 games this season. Mike Martz's club reached the big game by crushing Green Bay, 45-17 and then taking care of Philadelphia, 29-24 in last weeks NFC Championship. These two teams met on November, 18th, with the Rams coming away with a 24-17 victory. Brady or Drew Bledsoe, that is the main question surrounding the Patriots. Either way the Pats will have to use a balanced attack to beat the Rams. Brady is 13-3 since taking over as the Pats starter, but injured his ankle in last week's game. Brady threw for more than 2,800 yards and 18 touchdowns during the regular season. He was 19-of-27 for 185 yards and one touchdown, while throwing two interceptions in the earlier game against the Rams. Bledsoe, who took over last week for Brady, has the experience to step right back in. He started in Super Bowl XXXl. Last week Bledsoe completed 10-of-21 passes for 102 yards and one touchdown. Running back Antowain Smith, who rushed for 1,157 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, was held to just 47 yards on 15 carries against a tough Steelers defense last week. Smith carried 15 times for 36 yards in the earlier loss to the Rams. J.R. Redmond and Kevin Faulk can be dangerous third down backs. Troy Brown is one of the most underrated wide receivers in the game. Last weeks MVP caught 101 passes for 1,199 yards during the regular campaign and caught eight passes for 121 yards last week, while deciding the game on special teams. David Patten added four receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown last Sunday. Patten had a fine season, catching 51 passes for 749 yards. Tight end Jermaine Wiggins has caught a dozen passes in this post season, after catching just 14 all season. The Pats offensive line does a better job run blocking than pass blocking. Pats quarterbacks have been sacked close to 50 times this year. Defensively the Pats will have to pick their poison. With all the Rams weapons, they will probably look to stop the potent running attack. They allowed just 58 yards rushing last week and limited Marshall Faulk to 83 yards on 20 carries in the November 18th contest. In that game however they were scorched for more than 400 passing yards. Anthony Pleasant, Willie McGinest, Richard Seymour, Bobby Hamilton and Brandon Mitchell form a strong defensive line. Hamilton led the team with seven sacks. Pleasant and McGinest each had a sack last week. Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Bryan Cox, Ted Johnson and Roman Phifer are an active bunch of linebackers. The secondary is strong, led by Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, Tebucky Jones, Terrell Buckley and Otis Smith. The Pats special teams are headed by Brown, who scored for the third time this season on a punt return when he went the distance against the Steelers. Brown is the AFC's top punt returner. He also scooped up a blocked field goal last week and lateraled for another Pats score. Patrick Pass and Kevin Faulk handle the kickoff returns. Place kicker Adam Vinetieri connected on 1-of-2 field goal attempts last week. He went 24-of-30 during the regular season. His long coming from 54 yards out. Punter Ken Walter is averaging 40.1 ypp and put 24 of his 49 punts inside the 20. So many weapons. If it's not Kurt Warner beating you then it's Faulk, Torry Holt or Isaac Bruce. You can't stop them all. Warner threw for over 4,800 yards and 36 touchdowns during the season. He went crazy in the game against the Pats this season, completing 30-of-42 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns. Faulk went over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in 2001-02. He rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries in last weeks win over Philadelphia. Holt is the teams leading receiver with 81 receptions for 1,363 yards and seven touchdowns. Bruce, who caught 64 passes for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns, during the regular campaign, hauled in seven passes for 130 yards in the win over the Pats. Ricky Proehl and Az-Zahir Hakim can hurt you as well. The two combined for 79 catches for 937 yards and eight touchdowns. Orlando Pace anchors a solid offensive line. With all the attention being paid to the Rams explosive offense, the revamped defense is what got them to this years Super Bowl. The strong play has continued through the playoffs, as they held the Eagles to just 256 total yards, while sacking Donovan McNabb three times. They intercepted Brett Favre six times in the divisional playoff. Leonard Little, Grant Wistrom, Jeff Zgonina and Brian Young comprise a strong starting front line. Little, who had two sacks last week, registered a team-high 14.5 in 2001-02. Wistrom had one last week and nine during the regular season. Young added 6.5. London Fletcher is the team top tackler and best linebacker. Tommy Polley is making a run at Fletcher, however. The rookie has been outstanding during the post season. Mark Fields and Ron Davis add strength and depth at the position. Aeneas Williams, Dexter McCleon, Adam Archuleta, Kim Herring and Dre' Bly help form one of the NFL's top secondaries. Place kicker Jeff Wilkins is as consistent as they come. The veteran nailed 23-of-29 field goals during the regular season, including all 16 from inside the 40. Second year punter John Baker is averaging 42.1 ypp. Trung Candidate and Yo Murphy are solid kick returners. Bly has taken over for Az Hakim, returning punts. Although Bly is not the game breaker, Az Hakim is, he has proven to have better hands.
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