They say in time, things come full circle. And this is one of those times…
It all started on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, February 3rd, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome where the 11-5 underdog New England Patriots had fought their way for a chance to claim their first Lombardi Trophy. The opponent, the (then) St. Louis Rams who were dubbed the Greatest Show on Turf. Lead by star QB Kurt Warner and a lethal Rams offense that included Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce and Torrey Holt leading them to a 14-2 record. The outcome, a young quarterback in Tom Brady and a genius coach in Bill Belichick would do the unthinkable and take down one of the greatest offenses of that time. It would be the start of what is most likely one of the greatest dynasties that 17 years later is still alive and well.
Within that 17 years…
The Rams who were on the edge of a dynasty before that loss to New England, saw an overhaul after coach Mike Martz left in 2005. The Rams went through about five different head coaches, and saw fluctuations of up and down seasons until 2015-2016 when Stan Kroenke moved the team to Los Angeles. They drafted a young QB in Jared Goff then later fired coach Jeff Fisher, and hired a (very) young offensive mind in Sean McVay and in his second season has led this young Rams team back to the Super Bowl 17 years later.
As for the Patriots they would go on to win four more Super Bowls, while making it to three others and are now going to their 9th in the Brady/Belichick era and their third straight. That on top of eight consecutive AFC Championship appearances.
Now these two teams meet again 17 years later in Super Bowl LIII, on the same exact date as their meeting in 2001, and the Rams are looking to end a dynasty that they started.
Not one player or coaching personnel is left from that 2001 Rams team.
Whereas in New England, well, they still have the two that started it all in Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
There are some parallels to be drawn between this Rams team and their 2001 counterpart.
You now have Sean McVay playing the roll of once head coach Mike Martz
You still have a dynamic offense, where Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson can be used for that Marshall Faulk was. Then you have the likes of Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods, who could be in this matter compared to Isaac Bruce and Torrey Holt.
There is no shortage of storylines for this Super Bowl, but the one that is the most appealing is, can the Los Angeles Rams end a dynasty that they started?
The dynasty started against the Rams and here we are 17 years later full circle where a young QB and coach are looking to take down one of the best offenses and teams that this generation has ever witnessed.
A showdown of the past and the future will go down in two weeks, and boy is it going to be fun.
