Patriots Defeat Rams in Defensive Super Bowl Showdown
New England topped the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in a game that dragged the high-def NFL back to the days of black-and-white TV.
It was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in the 53-year history of the game. New England added even more luster to the franchise’s rich championship history on Sunday night.
Their victory over the Los Angeles Rams put a stamp on a season that started 1-2, but ended with New England becoming the first team since the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season.
New England is now tied with Pittsburgh at six Super Bowl titles apiece and also improved to 41-1 in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era after shutting out an opponent in the first half, including the postseason.
Brady is also the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl at age 41. Belichick is the oldest coach to hoist the Lombardi Trophy at age 66.
With his sixth ring, Brady has broken a tie with Hall of Famer Charles Haley for the most all-time by a player.
The low-scoring manner the Patriots won on Sunday also produced records.
The 13 points scored by New England matched the lowest total the team has scored in any of Brady’s 40 postseason starts. This was the first of Brady’s nine Super Bowl appearances in which he did not throw a touchdown.
It was his fifth postseason game without a TD pass. The Patriots are now 5-0 in those games.
Julian Edelman caught 10 passes for 141 yards; he was the day’s only consistent offensive threat making him the Super Bowl MVP.
Brady engineered the game’s lone touchdown drive —a five-play, 69-yard march punctuated by an over-the-shoulder, 29-yard throw into the hands of tight end Rob Gronkowski. On the next play, Sony Michel scored on a 2-yard plunge with 7 minutes to play for a 10-3 lead.
But the real stars of this game were the New England defenders, who smothered Rams quarterback Jared Goff, holding him to 229 yards that felt like less. Their goal was to get to the young QB, and they did more than that as at times he would seem clueless.
After New England’s score, Goff moved the Rams down to the New England 28 with 4:30 left. But the third-year quarterback threw one up for grabs near the end zone and cornerback Stephon Gilmore stepped in front for the interception.
The Rams, who averaged 32.9 points a game this season, joined the Miami Dolphins —from Super Bowl 6 in 1972— as the only the second team not to muster a touchdown in the title game.
With Brady adding his sixth Super Bowl to his resume, he intends to play the 2020 season. This would be Brady’s 20th season and he will be 42 years old.
As for the Rams, the young core of Sean McVay, Jared Goff, and Todd Gurley have set the foundation for LA in the future years and they look improve over the offseason.