ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What will happen in Super Bowl LIII?
DAVID DOREY
This will shape up to be a very interesting Super Bowl. The Rams are inexperienced and the Patriots know best how to take advantage of that. It would be easy enough just to expect the Pats to roll over them since they just beat the best offense (KC) in their stadium. But – the Rams defense is the key here. The Patriots have won in the playoffs because of their run game – not Brady throwing. They rolled up 177 yards and four TDs in Kansas City. They ran for 156 yards and four TDs against the Chargers. But the Rams held the Cowboys to only 47 rushing yards (Ezekiel Elliott) and then the Saints at home only produced 50 rushing yards and no score with both Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. The Super Bowl could still be a win for the Pats if the Rams make mistakes. But the score should be lower and the game score closer throughout. It should be very competitive but in the end, experience likely gets those final three points to win.
Dorey is the co-founder and lead NFL analyst for The Huddle and author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. He has projected and predicted every NFL game and player performance since 1997 and has appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, radio and television.
MATT SCHAUF
It’s hard for me to not see the Patriots winning this one fairly handily. New England doesn’t look susceptible in the same areas (re: coverage) that allowed the Rams to march back at New Orleans. The Patriots do, meanwhile, appear to have enhanced their offense to the point that they can win on the ground, through the air or with some balance of both.
Schauf is a senior analyst with DraftSharks.com. He has been covering fantasy football since 2002, producing content for outlets such as Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon and Football Diehards before landing with DS. Draft Sharks has been online since 1999 and is a 4-time winner in the FSTA’s annual fantasy football projections accuracy contests.
MATT PRICE
If the Rams are going to win this game I think they need to build a big lead and not put the Patriots in a situation where they are only down one score at the end of the game. We just saw what Tom Brady can do when given a final drive with two minutes left on the clock. In a scenario like this, the goat is going to find a way to win the game. The Rams need to keep their foot on the gas all game and not give the Pats a window to win it late in the fourth quarter.
Price is a Senior Writer for Dynasty League Football. He also hosts the DLF Dynasty Podcast and the Dynasty Game Night podcast. DLF was started in 2006 to provide the first dynasty-focused website to a small niche community of dynasty players. The site continues to be one of the leading sources of analysis, rankings and projections to that same growing community.
IAN ALLAN
The Patriots are tough. I think they have the better defense. As well as that unit has played the last two weeks against Philip Rivers and Patrick Mahomes, I think Jared Goff is the quarterback in this game who is more likely to sputter at times. I think Brady will be more the more consistent quarterback. Nerves won’t be an issue; he’s played in a half season’s worth of Super Bowl games, and he’s dialed in right now. He’s faced good pass rushes two weeks in a row, and they haven’t been able to touch him. Patriots are favored by 2.5 points, and I think it should be a little more. I am aware that all eight of Brady’s previous Super Bowls have gone down to the final minute, but I expect New England will win this one.
Allan co-founded Fantasy Football Index in 1987. He and fellow journalism student Bruce Taylor launched the first newsstand fantasy football magazine as a class project at the University of Washington. For more than three decades, Allan has written and edited most of the content published in the magazines, newsletters and at www.fantasyindex.com. An exhaustive researcher, he may be the only person in the country who has watched at least some of every preseason football game played since in the early 1990s. Allan is a member of the FSTA Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame.
MICHAEL NEASE
One perk I have enjoyed because I am older is that I have watched each and every Super Bowl over the years. Heck I even saw NFL and AFL championship games in the years before that. One common thread that links the games is that most are one-sided and boring. This time though, we are expecting a good game and it will surprise me if it is not. The Rams have a superior running attack, receiving corp and defense. On paper it looks to me like they should win. Yet I believe that logic will not apply to this game. Certainly, it can be said that Tom Brady-led Pats’ teams have lost three Super Bowls. Let us not forget though that Brady has been at the helm in more Super Bowls than any other QB, ever. Jared Goff played like a deer in headlights against the Bears defense. Playing against Tom Brady in his 10th Super Bowl, I personally believe Goff will choke once again. I look for a Patriots 38-24 win.
Nease is a member of the FSWA and has been playing the game since 1985, while also writing about it since 2001. He is a writer for Big Guy Fantasy Sports. Over the years he has sampled about all the playing scenarios that fantasy football offers, including re-drafter, keeper, dynasty, auction, IDP and salary cap leagues. You can contact Mike at mnease23@yahoo.com anytime and during the football season follow him @mike-insights.
ALAN SATTERLEE
It seems very hard in my mind to go against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady given all their playoff and Super Bowl experience and success. This will be playoff game number 40 for Tom Brady (not to mention this will be his ninth Super Bowl start) versus Jared Goff who will be making just playoff start number four (and his first Super Bowl start of course). I think New England comes out for the jugular and gets ahead while I can see Goff having some Super Bowl jitters to start the game. Ultimately I think Brady cruises to the Super Bowl win as we all re-coronate their amazing dynasty. For those looking to see some new storylines and teams in the Super Bowl, hopefully this will be enough and the final Brady Super Bowl run.
Satterlee is the Fantasy Football Insider for the Charlotte Observer and is syndicated in a few other newspapers in the southeast. Satterlee first started playing fantasy football in 1990.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
The Los Angeles Rams will defeat the New England Patriots by a score of 34-31 on a last-second field goal.
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its newly re-designed web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won in excess of $20K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI
In a year defined by the wide-open passing game, the Patriots have found their best stride on the ground. Score one for good coaching, the jelling of an offensive line, and a multi-talented backfield. Tom Brady won't be jittery on this stage but Jared Goff, in his first appearance, might be. Patriots 26, Rams 20.
Pianowski has been playing fantasy football for 20 years and writing about it for 17. He joined Yahoo! Sports in 2008 and has been blogging 24/7 on RotoArcade.com ever since.
SAM HENDRICKS
Rams start off strong and lead just before halftime, 21-3, but Brady orchestrates a brilliant end-of-half TD to make it 21-10. Then the Pats do the comeback and end up ahead by the 3rd quarter 31-24 despite going back to the run game. Fourth quarter is a walkoff as New England wins 45-27. Gronk has a good game and considers retirement. Brady has a great game and wins MVP honors. Neither will retire in 2019. Tony Romo gets kudos for his announcing and Maroon 5 are loved as halftime entertainers. Super Bowl ads are mainly lame as no one has the guts to go all-in.
Hendricks is the author of Fantasy Football Guidebook, Fantasy Football Tips and Fantasy Football Basics, all available at ExtraPointPress.com, at all major bookstores, and at Amazon and BN.com. He is a 25-year fantasy football veteran who participates in the National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) and finished 7th and 16th overall in the 2008 and 2009 Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC). He won the Fantasy Index Open in 2013. Follow him at his web site, www.ffguidebook.com.
ANDY RICHARDSON
I expect the Patriots to win by at least a touchdown. I don't think the Rams defense is good enough to cause many problems for New England's offense, and don't think Jared Goff is good enough to trade punches in a shootout with Tom Brady. Ironically, the Rams' best chance to win, I think, is the way the Patriots were able to beat the Rams 17 years ago: play great defense, control the clock on offense, make some big plays. They're going to need to get creative and take some chances, too; if there's a prop bet for there being a fake punt or fake field goal in this game, I want in. Because that's what the Rams will need to do. I'm calling it Patriots 31, Rams 23.
Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.