In what was a battle between two outstanding defenses on Sunday, the New England Patriots edged the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII.
The first half of Super Bowl LIII was the cliche "two prized fighters feeling each other out." I hate using cliches but that is exactly what happened in the first half, at least from the offensive side.
Los Angeles won the opening toss and elected to defer to the second half giving Tom Brady the ball first to start the Super Bowl. After a great opening return by New England's Cordarrelle Patterson, the Patriots found themselves in Los Angeles territory after one play from scrimmage. Gashing the Rams on the ground with Sonny Michel, New England started the game off hot like they had been there nine times since the turn of the century. Then an event that was out of the norm, a Tom Brady interception. That is right, the first time Tom Brady dropped back to pass in Super Bowl LIII he was intercepted by San Diego's own, and Mount Miguel alum Cory Littleton.
Tipped and PICKED.@RamsNFL D with the early takeaway!--: #SBLIII on CBS pic.twitter.com/5ptrKyiE9q
— NFL (@NFL)
February 3, 2019 The Rams did nothing with the interception, and quickly punted after a three and out.
The Patriots second drive was much of the same, with a little more of the passing attack of Julian Edelman. Despite the Rams forcing a stop on third down, the Patriots were bailed out by a hit on a defensless receiver penalty, then precieded to march down the field.
Nickell Robey-Coleman was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver on this play in #SBLIII pic.twitter.com/2BY1zJBRWg
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter)
February 3, 2019 Off the many receptions of Edelman and the ground attack of Michel, the Patriots drove the ball 60 yards on 11 plays down to the Rams 28-yard line for a 46-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal attempt. Prior to Gostkowski's attempt field goal kickers at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium were a perfect 31-for-31 on field goals. A stat that CBS announcer Jim Nantz uttered right before Gostkowski...missed the field goal.
The Rams again did absolutley nothing after the missed field goal attempt.
After a couple more punts by either team New England was able to get into field goal range again, this time Gostkowski made a 42-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead.
The Rams would punt on their next three drives and stop the Patriots one more time before half on downs.
Los Angeles has not been able to get anything going offensivley despite the great stops by their defense and a fotunate missed field goal by the Patriots. Their offensive woes include six punts and not a single drive being more than a measley five plays, as they have only been able to gain two first downs all half.
The second half was much of the same. The first two series for each team ended in punts, before the Rams finally put a drive together that was longer than a measley five plays. It took the Rams nine drives and until 2:11 left in the third quarter to finally not punt, run more than five plays, and ultimatley score. On their ninth drive the Rams finally got on the scoreboard after a 10 play, 42-yard drive that resulted in a Greg Zuerlein 53-yard field goal, breaking the Rams 8-consecutive drives ending in punts.
Speaking of punts...
The longest punt in @SuperBowl history now belongs to @JHekker!65 yards!--: #SBLIII on CBS pic.twitter.com/Hjd1eTXzUI
— NFL (@NFL)
February 4, 2019 The highlight of the Los Angeles Rams day was Johnny Hekker punting 65-yards to the New England 29, which set a record for longest punt in Super Bowl history. Previous was 64-yards by Ryan Allen in Super Bowl XLIX.
And speaking of records...
Super Bowl LIII was the lowest scoring Super Bowl through three quarters, as well as the first Super Bowl ever to not have a touchdown scored in the first three quarters.
In fact both teams could not even get the ball into the redzone, until 7:04 left in the game, when New England finally ran a play in the redzone. Not only was it the first play in the redzone, it also ended up being the first touchdown in the game as Sonny Michel scored on a 2-yard rush to give the Patriots a 10-3 lead with 7 minutes to play.
.@Flyguy2stackz scores the first TD of @SuperBowl LIII!@Patriots up 10-3.--: #SBLIII on CBS pic.twitter.com/iEgjAq3TFw
— NFL (@NFL)
February 4, 2019 Despite only haveing three points, Los Angeles was finally starting to click on offense. They were able to drive the ball all the way down to the Patriots 27-yard line. Facing a 2nd & 10 New England dialed up a zero-man cover one defense and blitzed Jared Goff. Having to get rid of the ball quickly Goff tries to force the ball to Brandin Cooks and unfortunatley found Patriots Stephon Gilmore for an interception.
WOW.@BumpNrunGilm0re PICKS OFF Jared Goff with 4:17 left in the game. @Patriots leading 10-3.--: #SBLIII on CBS pic.twitter.com/Yv2KXuTkaP
— NFL (@NFL)
February 4, 2019 New England was able to rip off huge runs by Michel and Rex Burkhead to burn clock, and march into Los Angeles territory, eliminating the remiander of the Rams timeouts. After finally being stopped on third down, Gostkowski hit a 41-yard field goal to ice the game and give the Patriots a 13-3 lead, ultimately winning the Super Bowl for the Patriots.
It's good!--: #SBLIII on CBS pic.twitter.com/MJkDulefVX
— NFL (@NFL)
February 4, 2019 Winning Super Bowl LIII gives the Patriots six Super Bowls since the turn of the century and ties the Pittsburgh Steelers for most Super Bowl wins in NFL history. Tom Brady now has more Super Bowls than any player in NFL history, also with six. Julian Edelman wins the Super Bowl LIII MVP with 141 receving yards on 10 receptions, and truley the biggest impact on the Patriots offense on Sunday.
.@SuperBowl LIII MVP: Julian @Edelman11!!! #SBLIII#EverythingWeGot pic.twitter.com/i4X81xZ2sx
— NFL (@NFL)
February 4, 2019
