There's a list of usual suspects when discu sing the biggest names of Super Bowl LIII, which you can on CBSSports.com
Adrian Gonzalez Jersey : , , Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, , , , .Each and every one of those names figures to have a prominent role in this Sunday's showdown between the and . Just those players alone, in fact, probably hold more sway on the outcome of this year's championship than most others combined. If Brady goes off as he did in LII, it's a good bet the Pats will win. If Donald disrupts New England's front and McVay keeps the ball in the Rams' hands, we're probably looking at a second straight year of Belichick coming up short. More on the NFL But what about the X-factors? Who among the Rams and Patriots could play a secretly pivotal part in bringing the Lombardi home?Our Pete Blackburn as the player to watch on New England's side. And when you take a look at the Rams' depth chart, it's hard not to identify a wide receiver on their end as well. You'd just think this particular wideout would've gotten the attention he deserves by now.We're talking about .It's not often you have a
Mookie Wilson Jersey receiver post four straight 1,000-yard seasons -- and warrant different playoff teams giving up first-round draft picks for him -- and then be largely overlooked. But that seems to be what's happened with Cooks, the former standout who starred with the Pats on their 2017 Super Bowl run and now serves as Goff's big-play threat out wide. For a guy who's fresh
Wilson Ramos Jersey off a 1,200-yard year and seven-catch, 107-yard NFC Championship Game, Cooks sure is flying under the radar.Now, are the Pats brushing him off? We doubt it. Cooks played for New England as recently as Super Bowl LII, remember, even though he was knocked out of that game after just one catch. He caught 65 balls and seven touchdowns from Brady. They know his potential. But when you're talking po sible X-factors for Sunday's game, forget Goff and Gurley and even Donald, the latter of whom is as obvious of a "factor" as they come. Cooks makes the most sense of them all. The Rams' offense is at its best when McVay can lean on the running game and, thus,
Jeff McNei Jersey allow Goff to do the same. So, yes, Gurley and C.J. Anderson are important, as is Los Angeles' offensive line. But if anyone's going to burst out of the shadows for a game-changing play, why wouldn't it be Cooks? Goff will surely make some safe throws to with former favorite sidelined, but if he's going to launch a boom-or-bust shot, it's almost a suredly going in Cooks' direction. Here's a receiver who's gotten fewer than six targets just three times all season, who's averaged almost 16 yards per catch and who's got 16 receptions for 234 yards and two scores
Wilmer Flores Jersey in just his last three games. The production is almost always there, and when it is, it involves big chunks of yardage.New England's pa s defense ranked 22nd in the after the regular season, and it ranks 11th among 12 playoff teams through the postseason. In other words, it can be exposed. So as much as Los Angeles loves to stick to the ground-and-pound formula, if Belichick and company are so focused on eliminating the Rams' best way to attack, then it stands to reason Goff may just have to chuck it up here and there. And if that's the case, there's no one better to chuck it to than the man Brady relied on in the same way a season ago.
