If you were tuning in to watch a shootout between the best quarterback ever and the high-powered offense of the leagues’ youngest coached team, you were probably disappointed by Super Bowl LIII, which bucked the league-wide and years-long trend of offenses ruling the field and instead became an old school defensive battle over who could score more than 3 points. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a thriller in its own way, of course, as the game was a one-score game all the way until the last minute of play-time.
The Sean McVay-coached Los Angeles Rams came into the post-season having only failed to score 30 points in 3 regular season games, but, with star running back Todd Gurley hobbled and Jared Goff looking a little shaky, the Rams’ offensive production slowed down in the post-season. They managed to score 30 against the Dallas Cowboys, but it took overtime for the Rams to get to 26 to defeat the New Orleans Saints in the conference championship. But Bill Belichick, as usual, had the perfect game plan for the Rams’ formerly formidable offense, holding them to just 3 points after gaining just 62 yards on the ground and 198 in the air.
The Patriots fared better, though they certainly fell far short of their performances in the preceding playoff games. After torching the Los Angeles Chargers 41-28 in the divisional game and then amassing 37 against the Kansas City Chiefs in the conference championship, the Pats managed to score just 13 points against the Rams — which turned out to be 9 more than they needed — running for 154 and throwing for 253. Brady went 21-35 with one interception and no touchdowns, which isn’t terrific, particularly for Brady’s lofty standards, but still bested Goff, who went 19 for 38 with one interception and no TDs. The MVP of the game was receiver Julian Edelman, who had 10 receptions for 141 yards and looked uncoverable for most of the game.
Here are the full-game highlights provided by the NFL, including the longest punt in Super Bowl history, followed by some post-game clips:
Brady and MVP Edelman hugging it out:
Brady’s post-game comments:
Here’s Edelman having some fun after helping his team win it all:
Gronkowski being Gronkowski:
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