Patriots earn 6th Ring after beating Rams 13-3
Super Bowl 53 wasn’t pretty, but the New England Patriots didn’t need it to be as they scratched and clawed to a 13-3 victory over the LA Rams to earn their second Super Bowl in 3 years. RB Sony Michel’ 4th Quarter TD broke a 3-3 tie, and then K Stephen Gostkowski’s FG gave the Patriots the needed insurance points to secure the win.
With the win, the Patriots have now won their 6th Super Bowl, tying them with the Pittsburgh Steelers for most in NFL history. QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have set a super Bowl record with 6 wins apiece, and the Patriots also won their 2nd Super Bowl in 3 years and their 3rd in 5 years. They are truly a dynasty.
Patriots WR Julian Edelman earned the game’s MVP after a 10 catch-141-yard performance. His key catches put the Patriots in scoring position several times, especially in the first half as he paved the way for Gostkowski’s first FG to give them a 3-0 lead. TE Rob Grown Koski’s clutch catches in the 4th quarter set up Michel’s TD and the go-ahead score. Gronkowski finished with yards in 6 catches. Brady himself passed for 262 yards and in interception. And at 41, he is the oldest player to win a Super Bowl.
Although the Rams defense did well for 3 quarters, they finally gave on the Patriots only TD drive. They put the pressure on Brady in the first half, but unfortunately the Rams offense couldn’t put points on the board, save a 53-yard FG by K Greg Zuerlein. They are now the first team since the 1971 Miami Dolphins to not score a TD in the Super Bowl. That dolphin team lost 24-3 to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl 6.
Super Bowl 53’s halftime score of 3-0 (Patriots leading) was the lowest in Super Bowl history since the Steelers led the Minnesota Vikings 2-0 in Super Bowl 9 in the 1974 season and the 13- 3 final score was the lowest since those Steelers beat the Vikings 16-6 in Super Bowl 9.
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Rams QB Jared Goff looked impressive at times, but most of the time, he looked scared and out of place as the Patriots pass rush pressured him often and sacked him 4 times, with LB Donta’ Hightower getting 2 of those 4 sacks. The Rams were only able to get to Brady once on a John Franklin-Robinson sack.
Goff passed for 229 yards and threw a costly interception late in the 4th quarter. The RB tandem of Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson rushed for 62 yards, meanwhile the Patriots running game rushed for 154 yards with 94 from Michel’ and 43 from Rex Burkhead.
This was the Rams 2nd loss in their Super Bowl history with the other losses taking place in 1979, and 2002. Their only Super Bowl win took place in 1999.
The Rams go into the NFL offseason looking for ways to prepare to return to the Big Game, while the Patriots will be looking to repeat in 2019.
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