One thing that Billy B has always understood, definitely better than other coaches including Martz, is that the officials don't want to be a big part of the SB. As much as I disagree with calling things differently in the playoffs than the regular season, the evidence is overwhelming that the NFL has a "let them play" attitude in the playoffs.
The Cheatriots used this to great effect in SB 36 when they basically tackled/mugged/molested the Rams WRs and Faulk in particular whenever they ran a route.
I was actually really glad to see that McVay obviously knew this, as he had our DBs playing pretty physical on the Saints receivers Sunday, which worked well for us. We started limiting Kamara's catches when we started jamming him hard on his way past the LOS.
Anyway, my first point is that it seems that McVay/Phillips know this and will take advantage of it in the SB if possible. You can't just wait and hope the refs start enforcing the rules, you have to see if they plan to enforce them and if not, take advantage of that.
But my main point is that given the huge amount of attention given to an uncalled penalty in the Saints game, the NFL may decide to instruct their officials to call defensive holding and PI more closely in the SB. I don't see how they don't. And if this is the case, I think it benefits us more than it benefits the Patriots, since we have the better receivers and because that is one of the primary keys to Patriots postseason defense.
Agree or disagree?
