Aqib Talib is one of the Los Angeles Rams' best defensive players, and the veteran cornerback is one of very few guys on L.A.'s roster with Super Bowl experience.
Talib won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos, and to win that championship, Denver had to beat his former team, the New England Patriots, in the AFC Championship Game two weeks prior. The Patriots know Talib's strengths, and one of them is his competitiveness, according to New England head coach Bill Belichick.
“He was great to coach,” Belichick said on WEEI's "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria" show Monday. “He’s a great player and he’s very, very competitive. Ultra-competitive. You might [not] know a guy is competitive until you’re with him day-to-day and you can’t put an exact value on that, or qualify it.
"But, he’s at the very top in terms of competitors. I am sure he will play hard this week.”
The Patriots will play the Rams in Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta on Sunday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Los Angeles needs a quality performance from Talib to slow down Tom Brady's offense.
The Rams are a much better defense when Talib is healthy and on the field, and the stats in the tweet below are a good example of that.
Brady and the Patriots' passing game have been good during the playoffs, but the strength of the offense has been the rushing attack. The Patriots have outgained opponents by 230 yards on the ground through two playoff games, and we should expect more of a ground-and-pound approach against a Rams defense that allowed a league-high 5.1 yards per carry in the regular season.
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