Let's be honest, as good as the Rams are this season, they have a tall order to beat the Patriots.
Experience almost always matters in these instances with the only real recent exception being when Russell Wilson took down Peyton Manning in Super Bowl 48.
Jared Goff is young. At 24, he is the fourth-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl. A good portion of the rest of the team is pretty young, too, as Todd Gurley is 24, Aaron Donald is 27 and Brandin Cooks is 25.
Let's not even talk about the experience difference here. The Rams don't have it and the Patriots have it in bunches in the right places. Winning this game will be hard for Los Angeles.
But it can be done. And the reason for that comes from the places you'll least expect it.
Experienced up front
The Rams are young as a team, yes, but their offensive line is full of experience, especially on Goff's back side. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth (37), left guard Rodger Safford (30) and center John Sullivan (33) have kept Goff clean all year long.
It's why they were announced as a finalist for the NFL's Offensive Line of the Year along with the Colts, Patriots, Saints and Eagles. They have experience in droves and are essential to what the Rams will want to do.
That is run the ball up the gut with either C.J. Anderson or Todd Gurley and that will set up the team's play-action game. Los Angeles has the line that can dominate a Patriots defense that ranked 21st in the NFL in total yards allowed this season. Goff will not be hit a ton on Sunday which gives L.A. a very good chance to win.
Wade Phillips/Aqib Talib
These two go hand in hand for a couple of reasons. For one, before Talib went down with an injury in Week 3, the Rams gave up 12 points a game. After he came back in Week 4, Los Angeles allowed 21.5 ppg. In the nine games he missed, it allowed 29.1. In games Talib has played this year the Rams have never given up more than 32 points. They gave up fewer than 16 four times.
He makes a tangible difference on defense as his presence makes Marcus Peters' coverage better and therefore gives Aaron Donald more time to get to the QB. That's a winning formula.
It's a formula Talib and Wade Phillips used to win Super Bowl 50 over the Panthers. And what team did Denver beat to get to that Super Bowl? None other than Tom Brady's Patriots. In fact, Phillips was the last defensive coordinator to help keep New England from getting to the Super Bowl.
He has had problems otherwise against Brady — who hasn't — but that was with the Texans when they didn't have starting linebacker Brian Cushing when he was a Pro Bowl player. Phillips has shown he can help beat Brady and Belichick. If the Rams win Sunday, he will be a huge reason why.