Earlier this week, we broke down all the important on-field matchups that could play a role in deciding who wins Super Bowl LIII. Today, we're moving to the guys wearing the headsets. 

The coaching matchup between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams is a fascinating one, with the legendary Bill Belichick taking on the wunderkind Sean McVay on one side of the ball, and the legendary Wade Phillips taking on the wunderkind Josh McDaniels on the other. The head coaches on these team specialize in opposite sides of the ball, and it's interesting that the older Belichick has a young coach running his offense and the youthful McVay has an old hand running his defense. 

These four coaches all have one thing in common, though: they are among the very best at what they do. And it will be extraordinarily fun to watch them all go head to head on Sunday in Atlanta and it will air on CBS and streamed here on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App for free on most connected devices). Let's break things down. 

Bill Belichick vs. Sean McVay

While there are many ways to think of this matchup in terms of what the coaches are like off the field or where they are in their respective careers, there's only one question that truly defines the tactical battle the two will engage in this Sunday: Who on the Rams offense does Bill Belichick want to stop at all costs, and how will Sean McVay adjust his play-calling to account for that?

All the way back in 2002, before Belichick and Brady had any rings or any real success to speak of, they squared off in their first Super Bowl with a high-scoring Rams team (31.4 points per game, most in the NFL) led by an offensive genius coach (Mike Martz) featuring a star running back (Marshall Faulk) and a strong wide receiver duo (Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt). 

The Patriots' plan in that game was all about stopping Faulk, who was the most dynamic player in the league that season. Faulk averaged 24.5 total touches, 98.7 rushing yards, 54.6 receiving yards, and 1.5 total touchdowns per game during the regular season, one during which he was named Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year and won the PFWA MVP Award. In the Patriots' Super Bowl victory, Belichick's defense held the Rams' star running back to 76 yards on the ground and 54 through the air on 21 total touches, while also keeping him out of the end zone. They didn't shut him down, but they did enough so that he did not dominate the game and single-handedly win it for the Rams, and Belichick forcing Martz into repeatedly calling pass plays worked to New England's advantage. 

From Gladys Knight's anthem to who will score first to Maroon 5 to the Super Bowl MVP, get everything you need to make the right picks for Sunday in our Ultimate Super Bowl Props guide.  

Here we are 17 years later and the Patriots are gearing up to face another high-scoring Rams team (32.9 points per game, second-most in the NFL) led by another offensive genius coach (Sean McVay) that features another star running back (Todd Gurley) and another duo of strong wide receivers (Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods). 

Of course, not everything is the same now as it was then. There are two distinct differences. The first is that while Kurt Warner (2002) and Jared Goff (2019) were both in their third season starting for the Rams, Warner was the 2001 Associated Press MVP, while Goff is somewhere closer to the space between above-average and very good, rather than elite. The second difference is that the league itself has undergone massive changes. The game is much more spread out now, as nearly every team demands that opposing defenses cover every inch of the field, as those explosive Rams teams did all those years ago. Most teams, including the Rams, run the ball far less often than they used to, and rely far more on play-action passes and/or throws from shotgun than on traditional drop-back passing from under center. And most offenses, including and especially that of the Rams, have a lot more bells and whistles designed to confuse defenses about where the ball is going. 

So, who will Belichick focus on this time around? Gurley seems like the obvious choice because he's the team's most dangerous player, but he's been banged up for weeks and if you game-plan for Gurley and all of a sudden get a ton of C.J. Anderson, that's not great. Additionally, selling out to stop Gurley is essentially what McVay wants teams to do, so that the Rams can get into their ever-dangerous play-action passing game. No quarterback in the league threw more play-action passes this season than Goff, per Pro Football Focus, and his 111.5 passer rating on play-action throws (including postseason) is just about 20 points better than his rating on straight drop-backs. 

Of course, Goff's play-action production came with heavy splits. 

Play-ActionWeek 1-11Week 13-15Week 16-17Playoffs
Comp93161117
Att146312025
Comp %63.7%51.6%55.0%68.0%
Yards1596199176200
YPA10.96.48.88.0
TD8051
INT0200
QB Rtg119.045.0124.2105.4

It's that Week 13-15 section that should be most concerning for the Rams. That's the three-week span where the Lions, Bears, and Eagles appeared to have found a real formula for slowing the Rams down. They did it by essentially ignoring all the bells and whistles in the Rams offense. They didn't react to jet motion. They didn't react to play-action. They just sat in soft zone coverage and dared Goff to hit throws into small windows and rallied to the ball if he actually handed it off. Much of the Rams' offense is designed to beat mean coverage with crossing routes and mesh concepts, so this really threw them off for that three-game span. 

Of course, the Patriots play more man coverage than any team in the NFL, and they're also really, really good at it. Sitting back in a soft zone doesn't really seem like something this particular version of the Patriots is suited for, but then, Belichick has never had any problem going completely against the grain before. But why waste Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson's man coverage abilities in zone when you can have them press up on Brandin Cooks and Josh Reynolds at the line, and do the same with Jason McCourty on Robert Woods? It's a tough balance to strike, because while a formula is out there, it's not one that is easily replicable for the Patriots given their own defensive style. 

And more than that, it's tough to imagine Belichick essentially daring the Rams to beat him with Gurley, rather than focusing on stopping Gurley and forcing Goff to beat his corners in press man coverage, where they were terrific all season and especially down the stretch. That's what he did with Faulk and Warner back in 2002, and it seems like that's what he'll do again in Super Bowl LIII. 

Josh McDaniels vs. Wade Phillips

While this is only the first time that Belichick and McVay will square off as head coaches, McDaniels and Phillips have a much longer history, and we can look to those previous matchups for clues about how this matchup will shake out. These two have squared off 10 times since McDaniels was elevated to offensive coordinator back in 2005, with McDaniels' team prevailing in seven of the 10 matchups, and two of three in the playoffs. 

YearMcDanielsPhillipsYardsPointsWinner?
2005Patriots OCChargers DC30317Phillips
2006*Patriots OCChargers DC32724McDaniels
2007Patriots OCCowboys HC44848McDaniels
2008Broncos HCCowboys HC33717McDaniels
2012Patriots OCTexans DC41942McDaniels
2012*Patriots OCTexans DC45741McDaniels
2013Patriots OCTexans DC45334McDaniels
2015Patriots OCBroncos DC30124Phillips
2015*Patriots OCBroncos DC33618Phillips
2016Patriots OCBroncos DC31316McDaniels

McDaniels' offenses have averaged 369.4 yards and 28.1 points per game against Phillips' offenses -- elite numbers. If you remove the one game he coached against Phillips when he was with the Broncos and only account for the games where he coached Brady against a Phillips-led defense, those figures rise to 373.0 yards and 29.4 points per game. But just as was the case with Goff's play-action passing numbers, there are heavy splits involved with those performances. 

Look at what happens when you split things out by which team Phillips was coaching at the time of the matchups. (Again, we'll only look at the games where McDaniels was coaching Brady and the Patriots this time.) 

PhillipsYards/GamePoints/GameW-L
Chargers DC315.020.51-1
Cowboys/Texans DC444.341.30-4
Broncos DC316.719.32-1

That makes things look far better for Phillips, doesn't it? When he's had top level defensive talent across the board, as he did in San Diego and Denver, he has been able to make things difficult for McDaniels and Brady. And when he hasn't had that kind of across-the-board talent, his defenses have gotten their butts handed to them. 

Luckily for the Rams' sake, he has that kind of talent this time around. Aaron Donald is the best defensive player in football and a game-wrecker the likes of which have rarely ever been seen. Were it not for the presence of Donald in the world, Ndamukong Suh would get a whole lot of attention for being one of the best defensive tackles in football. Michael Brockets probably hates both of those guys because they steal all of his shine. Dante Fowler complements that trio by providing a perimeter pass-rush. Aqib Talib is still one of the best corners in football. Marcus Peters, when he's on his game, can hit a similar level. Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson III are both terrific safeties and Nickell Robey-Coleman is one of the best slot corners in the league. Corey Littleton emerged as a playmaker up the middle and Sam Ebukam had a terrific 2018 season. 

The Rams did not reach their apex during the regular season as they dealt with injuries to Talib and the midseason struggles of Peters, but they have been absurdly good on defense during the playoffs. And the thing they do best happens to be the thing that gives McDaniels and Brady the most trouble: getting pressure up the middle, very quickly. Donald and Suh are practically unblockable, and Belichick actually used that word to describe Donald in the lead-up to this game. Expect the Patriots to send two or even three blockers at him on a near every-snap basis, and to force somebody else to be the guy that gets into Brady's face. That's easier said than done, of course, but it's what they are going to have to do. 

How McDaniels chooses to deal with the Donald problem will tell us a lot about what kind of game the Patriots want this to be. If Brady is throwing quick passes to Julian Edelman and James White all night, then suddenly Robey-Coleman, Littleton, Ebukam, and Mark Barron become the most important players on the field. But if he McDaniels decides he wants to test Peters with double moves and get some big plays, suddenly the Patriots' interior offensive linemen enter the spotlight. The same is true of the Patriots' rushing attack, as they can either run up the middle behind their best run-blockers or choose to attack the perimeter by running behind Rob Gronkowski, who had his worst receiving season in years in 2018 but is still an elite blocker. Sony Michel can handle either role, but an outside-run-heavy game-plan could mean more carries for White and/or Rex Burkhead.