ATLANTA — 11Alive Sports offers a daily log of expectations and anecdotes for Super Bowl Week, as the Patriots and Rams settle in for Sunday's showdown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
WILL THE PATRIOTS AND RAMS BE PRACTICING TODAY?
During the regular season, NFL teams -- unless they're playing on a short week -- typically don't practice on Tuesdays.
As such, this routine shall remain intact for the ultimate game on Sunday.
That's not to say things are all quiet on the Patriots and Rams fronts, respectively.
Both clubs have media obligations at their temporary headquarters; and the assistant coaches are likely working overtime on perfecting the game plans for Super Sunday.
Later in the week, we'll shed more light on the philosophical differences that come with installing a Super Bowl game plan during the bye week ... or waiting until game week for major installs.
DO MOST SUPER BOWL WEEKS TYPICALLY START THIS SLOW?
Yes. Outside of the Super Bowl LIVE and Super Bowl Experience events, the NFL loves to slowly build up the hype for Super Sunday, bringing it to a timely crescendo right before kickoff.
As Exhibit A, you likely would have success in booking a solid hotel room for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights; but come Wednesday, the same room would have an exorbitant price tag.
As Exhibit B, good luck getting an 8 p.m. seating for any of Atlanta's most prominent steakhouses or bistros from Wednesday to Sunday. At that point, it's essentially an invitation-only proposition.
This mentality also rings true on the football side. The players are used to the routine of watching film/getting treatment on Monday, resting up on Tuesday, installing the game plans for Wednesday/Thursday/Friday and then having a brief, but spirited walkthrough on Saturdays.
In fact, Saturday night has become famous for Super Bowl speeches.
While the world becomes consumed with blowout parties and Hall of Fame announcements, the head coaches (or team captains) are setting the emotional tone for the following day, through the act of creative and passionate speeches.
Take Bill Belichick, for example. For Super Bowl Eve in 2004, the Patriots coach calmly stoked the fires of his players ... by reading the city of Philadelphia's leaked plans for the Eagles' championship parade.
(Spoiler alert: The Patriots captured the third Lombardi Trophy of the Brady-Belichick era.)
Belichick's measured response, full of innuendo, was equal parts comical, cunning and incredibly effective.
WHAT ARE THE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR BOTH TEAMS?
As the NFC champs, the Rams will have full-time access to the Atlanta Falcons' training facility in Flowery Branch.
Inside the perimeter, the Patriots will train in Midtown Atlanta all week, relying on Georgia Tech's expansive athletic grounds for daily practices.
Here's the general hotel information:
RAMS: JW Marriott Buckhead (3300 Lenox Road)
PATRIOTS: Hyatt Regency (downtown Atlanta 265 Peachtree Street)
WILL INCLEMENT WEATHER BE A HINDRANCE FOR FANS, MEDIA AND TEAMS?
We all heard the gloom-and-doom reports of metro Atlanta getting clobbered by an ice storm, keeping in line with tradition when Georgia hosted the Super Bowl in 1994 and 2000.
Thankfully, though, there were three opposing forces at play here:.
a) The sun has been plentiful in the middle part of the day, thus drying the pavement and grounds from the overnight rainstorm.
b) The temperatures may creep below freezing at some point in the day; but it's hardly a grave concern, if there's no wet pavement or sizable puddles to freeze.
c) The weather forecasts for Wednesday through Sunday are more glowing than pessimistic.
In other words, if you brought golf clubs to Atlanta ... there's a decent chance at hitting the links sooner than later, without that nasty aftershock that sometimes comes with striking golf balls in absurdly cold weather.
WHAT'S THE UPDATED WORD FROM VEGAS, REGARDING SUNDAY'S MATCHUP?
For the most part, the betting lines have remained static for some time.
From a smart-money perspective, the Patriots universally range from a 2-point to 2 1/2-point favorite over the Rams.
And from an over-under standpoint, the Vegas experts have locked onto to a '56' number, with the all-important 'hook' of 56.5 points.
