Conference Championship record: 1-1 (Correct: Patriots Incorrect: Saints)
Overall record: 5-5
New England Patriots over Los Angeles Rams: Recent history is riddled with examples of teams that rode a wave of lucky breaks, whether it was via bad officiating or some kind of miracle play, to a playoff W then turned around and lost their next game (2011 Patriots, 2014 Seahawks, 2017 Vikings). While I feel the Saints inability to score TD's on their early possessions and heinous opening drive in OT that ended with Drew Brees throwing a costly INT that allowed the Rams to kick the game-winning field goal played a sizable role in determining their unfortunate fate, Nickell Robey-Coleman's unflagged mugging/headbutting of Tommylee Lewis undeniably helped the Rams win the NFC Conference Championship Game and has subsequently made them susceptible to the unforgiving wrath of The Football Gods this week.
Even if I didn't let silly superstitions serve as the driving force behind my pick, I'd take the Patriots in this game. The manufactured "NO ONE BELIEVES IN US" card they've been playing since the playoffs started has lit a fire under their asses that's unlike anything I've seen from since at least 2014 when they knocked off the aforementioned Seahawks in Super Bowl 49. The Rams have a lot of vets that have stepped up big during this playoff run (Robert Woods, C.J. Anderson, Ndamukong Suh, Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters), but I just don't think they have what it takes from a mental or X and O's standpoint to knock off a team full of trained killers that's this dialed-in.
It also doesn't help that Todd Gurley, who is exactly the type of skilled pass-catching back that could give the Patriots slow linebackers fits, is a shell of himself right now thanks to an undisclosed injury that has severely limited his snaps all playoffs long, Wade Phillips has had very minimal success scheming against Tom Brady's quick release/short-to-intermediate passing game and Jared Goff's tendency to make bad throws while under pressure is exactly the type of fatal flaw Bill Belichick can easily exploit. Sean McVay's creativity as a playcaller and the Rams deep arsenal of receiving threats that match up favorably against the Patriots defensive backs not named Stephon Gillmore should help keep things close, but I just feel like this will end up being another well-earned victory lap for the most impressive dynasty in the NFL, if not professional sports history.
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