The New England Patriots are now tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl championships of all-time at six as they beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 Sunday night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA in Super Bowl LIII. That game is also now the lowest scoring Super Bowl of all-time.
The Patriots never trailed in Sunday’s Super Bowl as the jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second quarter thanks to a 42-yard field goal by kicker Stephen Gostkowski to cap off a 7-play, 39-yard drive. Gostkowski had missed a 46-yard field goal in the first half and to close out the Patriots second offensive possession.
The Patriots took their 3-0 lead over the Rams into halftime as the Los Angeles offense had their first six possessions in the first 30 minutes of play end in punts. The Rams offense was 0-6 on third downs in the first half and their 22 total offensive plays netted just 57 yards. The Patriots offense, on the other hand went into halftime with 195 net yards of offense while possessing the football nearly 20 of a possible 30 minutes.
In the second half, the Rams offense finally managed to tie the game at 3-3 thanks to a 53-yard field goal by kicker Greg Zuerlein to cap off a 10 play, 42-yard drive. The Patriots, however, would go on to score the game’s only touchdown with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter. That 2-yard touchdown run by Patriots running back Sony Michel immediately followed a 29-yard deep pass from quarterback Tom Brady to tight end Rob Gronkowski on a 2nd down and 3 play from the Rams 31-yard-line. That wound up being the longest play of the game as well.
The Patriots would later add another Gostkowski field goal with 1:12 left in the game and that 41-yard kick came eight plays after New England cornerback Stephon Gilmore had intercepted Rams quarterback Jared Goff at the New England 4-yard-line. Goff threw the ill-advised pass down the right side of the field as a free-running blitzer was about to hit him in the pocket. Goff, who looked very shaky and inconsistent with his pass attempts most of the game, finished his first career Super Bowl having completed 19 of his 38 total throws for 229 yards and the one interception.
As for Brady, who is now a six-time Super Bowl champion along with his head coach Bill Belichick, he completed 21 of his 35 total pass attempts Sunday night for 262 yards with one interception, that came during the Patriots first offensive possession of the game. Brady completed 10 of his passes to wide receiver Julian Edelman for 141 yards. Edelman was later named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LIII for his Sunday performance.
The Rams offense ended the game with just 260 net yards with 62 of that coming on the ground. Rams top running back Todd Gurley, however, played sparingly in Sunday’s game just as he did in the NFC Championship game. Gurley rushed 10 times for 35 yards with a long of 16 yards. Los Angeles wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who played for the Patriots in 2017 and was ultimately traded to Los Angeles last April, caught 8 passes for 120 yards in his team’s losing effort.
The Patriots, who are now 6-5 in Super Bowls following Sunday’s win over the Rams, will likely be chosen to kick off the 2019 regular season in September and maybe even against the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of this year’s AFC Championship game.
