Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 1292 Shoulder a Mission
A hundred flowers bloomed, a hundred schools of thought contended, and the melee continued into the last week of the regular season. The suspense was finally revealed, and the National League playoff spots were all settled.

No. 49 seed, NFC West champion, San Francisco ers, wins and losses.

The second seed, NFC North champion, Green Bay Packers, 13 wins and 3 losses.

The third seed, NFC South champion, New Orleans Saints, 13 wins and 3 losses.

The fourth seed, NFC East champion, Philadelphia Eagles, nine wins and seven losses.

Wild card.

The fifth seed, second in the NFC West, the Seattle Seahawks, have 11 wins and five losses.

The sixth seed, second in the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings, have 10 wins and 6 losses.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers of the American League lost their chance at the last minute and missed the playoffs, it was not surprising that the turmoil in the offseason had already laid the hidden dangers early on; then the Los Angeles Rams of the National League missing the playoffs was undoubtedly the most shocking, impactful and unexpected upset of the season.

There are no injuries, no roster losses, the team is still young and still competitive, and they started the season with three consecutive wins. Everything indicates that after the crushing defeat in the Super Bowl last season, the Los Angeles Rams have regrouped and are mentally prepared to make another push for the Super Bowl.

The alliance remains expectant about this.

In this year's offseason draft, the Los Angeles Rams selected Chinese-American safety Taylor Rapp (Chi Youjun) with the 61st pick in the second round.

This means that Levi is no longer alone, and the NFL finally has a second Chinese player.

During the interview, Rapp made no secret of his admiration and worship for Levi, "I long to be able to tackle Levi on the court."

Goodell said, welcome with both hands and feet raised.

If Levi and Donald can fight at the Forbidden City for the second consecutive year, then there is no doubt that they will officially replace the position of "Big Manning vs. Brady" and become the No. 1 rival in the league, which is also something that Goodell would like to see. Coupled with the "Chinese confrontation", the topic will be fully ignited.

Unfortunately, it backfired.

On the one hand, after a short season of highlights, Goff has lost his luster this season, which has prevented head coach McVay from displaying his offensive talents.

After the Kansas City Chiefs launched "Cheating Motion", the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers were the first teams in the league to follow suit. McVay tried to help Goff continue his performance from last season, but Goff disappointed McVay time and time again, causing McVay to fall into his own anxiety.

Rumor has it that the atmosphere in the Los Angeles Rams locker room this season is very bad because McVay believes he is right, but the game results are not so, so he will fall into a circle of self-blame, frustration, decadence, irritability, and anxiety. Although he will not vent to other coaching staff members or players, his self-blame makes the entire workplace involved in a storm of impatience and anxiety.

This is not good news.

On the other hand, Aaron Donald's form has declined rapidly after two consecutive seasons of peak performance.

In fact, the clues were already revealed during the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year. Donald relied on his one-trick pony to conquer the world. This one-step lightning attack ability swept the league for two seasons and became an unsolvable problem. However, once Donald's body could not withstand his burst and speed, he would fall into a dilemma of being helpless, like a trapped beast. Donald's efficiency of pressure attacks declined, and the impact of the entire Los Angeles Rams' defense team was depleted by far more than 50%.

In the end, the Los Angeles Rams' offense fell to eleventh in the league, and their defense fell to seventeenth in the league.

Of course, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and the Los Angeles Rams still have their strengths, and they can still win games, which allows their playoff hopes to continue until the last week; but their clashes with top teams have lost the spark to break through at critical moments, and they have lost consecutively to direct competitors such as the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, etc. this season, causing them to lose the initiative in the playoffs.

In the last week of the regular season, even if the Los Angeles Rams win, they still need the Minnesota Vikings to lose in order to win a playoff ticket.

However, after enduring a whole season of criticism and abuse, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Cousins ​​was determined to prove himself this season. He refused to miss the opportunity and relied on his own hands to lead the Minnesota Vikings back to the playoffs after a year.

As a result, the Los Angeles Rams failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.

A dark horse!
At the same time, the curse that Super Bowl losers of the previous year often fall into struggle in the new season has continued again.

"Levi VS Lapp", this may have to wait a little longer.

I have to say that the Los Angeles Rams are really... disappointing. In the 2017 season, "Levi vs. Donald" missed the stage because of the Los Angeles Rams' upset loss in the wild-card game; in the 2019 season, the timing, momentum, and stage for "Levi vs. Rupp" were all ready but were missed again.

Goodell: I'm angry at them for not fighting back.

However, there is no need to worry. The enthusiasm and expectations of fans in the Los Angeles area have once again been poured with a bucket of cold water, while other National League teams are still strong.

From the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers who maintained an undefeated record in the first half of the season, to the New Orleans Saints who became more and more courageous afterwards, to the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings who fought their way out of the slump and chaos, this playoff lineup is truly luxurious.

Compared with the comprehensive rise of the new generation in the American League, in the National League, although the new generation is rising fiercely, the performance of the veterans and the middle-aged generation is still strong.

The two elite quarterbacks, Brees and Rodgers, continue to be strong and work together to defend their position in the league. It is too early to replace them now.

Wilson and Cousins, two middle-aged players, are making their voices heard amid the fierce competition. Anyone who underestimates them needs to be careful of backlash. They should be the backbone of the league now and create a world of their own in the post-four elite quarterback era.

The two young quarterbacks Wentz and Garoppolo both joined the league's wave of new players. They are both controversial and questioned. They lack top performance, continuity and stability, but are considered to be the future overtime players of the league. This season, both of them have ushered in an explosion.

Whether it is Wentz or Garoppolo, the two young and energetic quarterbacks have murderous aura and fighting spirit, and are eager to prove themselves more than ever before, especially when the young people in the American League are rising comprehensively, the young forces in the National League do not seem to have gained momentum, and the heavy responsibility finally falls on the shoulders of these two people.

In the AFC, people are asking, who can beat the Kansas City Chiefs?
In the League of Nations, people are asking, who can break through?
After all, the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, and New Orleans Saints all have the same record, but the New Orleans Saints have to play in the wild-card game; and the Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings are not pushovers, and the regular season melee will continue to spread into the playoffs.

There is so much suspense and everything is possible.

(End of this chapter)