January 30, 2000 – It was a cold, ice covered morning filled with playing Nintendo 64 and eating cereal. With fears from the apocalypse and Y2K computer virus all but subsided the vibe around my little part of town were full of excitement and hope. It was my 11th birthday and for my birthday, I wished for a Rams win.
Nothing against the Titans, I just liked the Rams, with Kurt Warner and his story and Marshall Faulk pounding the rock they were fun to watch. The game was fun and remarkable with a photo finish that saw Titans WR Kevin Dyson come up 1 yard short.
2 years later the Rams found themselves back in the Super Bowl, this time against 1st year QB Tom Brady and 2nd year Patriot’s Head Coach Bill Belichick. Almost everyone, including myself, was pulling for the Patriots to “win one for America” just 4 months after the September 11th terrorists attacks on our country.
As if the Rams didn’t already have the whole country pulling against them, the Patriots were sneaking around in the shadows gaining an unfair advantage…
…Years after Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots would get caught in a “Spygate” scandal (setup by Now Rogue-Operative Eric Mangini) of filming practices and walkthroughs for whatever purpose a competitive professional football team might be able to utilize such information. Many of the tapes were destroyed by Roger Goddell [and probably countless other nameless people] to “protect the league”.
In other words, “The Patriots and Tom Brady have created a legacy and helped grow the NFL so why tarnish their greatest creation and just move on”. Since, the tapes were destroyed there is no evidence from the Super Bowl. I guess it can be rather difficult to prove of a tape’s existence if all the tapes are destroyed [Red Flag] or wiped clean…[Red Flag]…
The Patriots deserve a little respect for their greatness though. They’ve had Hall of Fame players and great teams throughout this remarkable 18 year run with Belichick. Tom Brady is arguably the greatest QB of all time because he does it year in and year out and had extraordinary ability. Even if Belichick needs an edge defensively to know what the other team is running, not every black mark against the Patriots have been self inflicted.
The Tuck Rule (which doesn’t exist anymore) helped set up the Patriots dynasty and we can all assume the league offices were pushing for a Patriots win, you know with the whole “patriotism and need for unity after September 11th” even had me as a 13 year old pulling for the Patriots. It was really what we all needed in all honesty.
28-3 would never be a thing if the referees didn’t completely swallow their whistles on the Patriots final 2 possessions of regulation (Missed Chop Blocks which are loss of down and 15 yards & Missed Holding calls which are spot fouls and a 10 yard penalty). See our article here.
There have been many other instances throughout their time such as a few Ravens vs Patriots games that have seen a few calls go the Patriots way. Roughing the Passer rules were amended to incorporate a hit specifically on Tom Brady, which put him out the rest of the year. Not to mention anytime you breathe or push air Tom Brady’s way it’s called Roughing the Passer (SEE Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game THIS YEAR…like 2 weeks ago).
If you take ALL this into consideration and add into account how Belichick plays football by taking away your best player and even schematically he cheats you/bullies you within the rules, much like Nick Saban.
It’s easy to dislike the Patriots for many reasons but for me it’s because they are false football gods whose dominance is built with an Asterisk.
#RamsRevenge
January 30, 2000 was the last time the Super Bowl was in Atlanta. “The Greatest Show on Turf” won the Super Bowl in dramatic fashion and Kurt Warner etched his name in the history books with the help of Hall of Fame players like Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, and (guys I’d put in the HOF) Issac Bruce and Torry Holt.
2 years later, the Rams meet the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI in one of the greatest Super Bowls for our country. Emotions were all over the map and this is America’s Game. The Favorite Rams were held to 3 first half points. In fact the high flying offense of the Greatest Show of Turf didn’t score another point until the 4th quarter.
After coming back with 14 points of their own in the 4th quarter, Tom Brady and Belichick put together a drive for the record books. Vinateri launched a 48 yard field goal in the greatest finish in Football history. The Patriots won along with America.
We needed that.
The Rams would fail to advance for the next 16 seasons.
I can imagine how upset and cheated I would feel watching the Patriots have opportunity after opportunity to win another one and you’re telling me they had an advantage. What an unbelievable crosswind of emotions I would feel and not really know what to do. The Rams had to catch their breath and gather themselves.
After a relocation back to Los Angeles and 7th head coach the Rams brought back the style that won them the Super Bowl in 2000. They are a high powered balanced offense. Jared Goff was the 4th best passer while the Rams were the 3rd best rushing team in NFL averaging 139.4 yards per game. Defensively, they lineup all-pro Ndamukong Suh next to 2018’s Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. They really don’t have any weaknesses.
Super Bowl LIII
The Rams are the best team on paper. Losing Cooper Kupp hurts them overall but this season has basically been all about the Rams and the Chiefs. Seeing as how the Chiefs aren’t in it the Rams are the team to beat. Which is baffling to me Vegas has them as +3 point underdog and +125 on the moneyline.
That just tells me one thing, this game is all about Jared Goff’s ability to rise to the occasion and quarterback his team on the biggest stage in the sport. We know Tom Brady can do it and the storylines are all in place for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to get their 6th ring.
But at the end of the day there are other things in play here. Let me connect the dots.
- 2000: Last Super Bowl in Atlanta
- 2002: Patriots [cheat] the Rams
- 2017: Patriots [refs eat whistles] against Atlanta
- 2018: Eagles win 1st Super Bowl over Patriots
- 2019: First Super Bowl in Atlanta since 2000
2017 should read “Falcons win 1st Super Bowl over Patriots”. However, I’m not bitter and have taken the proper steps to get over such loss in my life. The Patriots rubbed in our faces. They made “28-3” signs and even put it up on the scoreboard in their stadium. That’s just creating bad waves in the universe. They’ve never really rubbed it in or been sore winners in the past so now they have to try and bully Atlanta?
Y’all were given a golden opportunity at the end of the game after we didn’t fully capitalize on our opportunities but I’ll never understand the Mocking from Patriots fans. Just pure disrespect.
In many ways, the Saint’s fate was sealed because of how they treated Atlanta after the 28-3 game. It was almost like Kharma protected us against them coming to our city and force us to watch either the Patriots or Saints win a trophy here. Now the Saints fans can understand what it’s like to lose a big game due to poor officiating. [Quit Whining]
Now it’s the Patriots’ turn. They deserve to suffer the same fate as the Saints…In Atlanta. We saw how a completely dominating Clemson team destroyed the [highly questionable organization] Alabama Crimson Tide this year. I’m deeming this year Redemption Year and it’s time for the Patriots to be exposed and the Rams have the manpower to accomplish it.
It has to be this way. For humanity.
*Rams 37-20
#RamsRevenge #AtlantaRams #TOSS
The Other Side Sports 