Defense still wins championships, if you would of told me that the Patriots with Tom Brady at quarterback would only score 13 points in Super Bowl 53 on Sunday in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and win the game. I thought you would be crazy but they won their sixth Super Bowl thanks to their defense flexing it’s muscles against the high flying LA Rams offense. For the sixth time under quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft the Patriots have won Super Bowl #6 as they win 13-3 in a defensive battle. Tom Brady didn’t throw a touchdown pass but he had his running game and defense back him up. This wasn’t Bill Belichick’s strongest team but I personally believe it was his best coaching job ever with a weaker roster.The Patriots were in the Super Bowl last season losing a close one 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots became the third team joining the 1971 Dallas Cowboys and the 1972 Dolphins to lose a Super Bowl one season then winning the Super Bowl the following season. Remember when the Patriots started the season at 1-2 with losses to the Jaguars and the Lions two teams that didn’t make the playoffs? Remember when the Patriots after a six game winning streak had a really bad loss to the Tennessee Titans? Remember when the Patriots had those back to back loses in December at the Dolphins where the Dolphins completed some laterals and won the Miami miracle where Rob Gronkowski missed the tackle and losing at the Steelers the following week? Everyone was saying this is the end of the Patriots dynasty, Tom Brady at 41 is too old, Bill Belichick has lost his touch, but as i learned over the years never count out the Patriots whenever they have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. They won their final two games in the regular season against the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. Then they dominated the LA Chargers in the divisional round of the playoffs at home then won an overtime thriller at loud Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City as Tom Brady and the Patriots went on a game winning drive in overtime for the game winning touchdown to send the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
Going into this Super Bowl against the LA Rams everyone wanted to see how the Rams offense under head coach Sean McVay would do against a Bill Belichick type of defense of the Patriots. We have a huge age differential for both the head coaches and the quarterbacks as Sean McVay is 33 years old in his first ever Super Bowl against Bill Belichick who has been to many Super Bowls who is 66 years old while Tom Brady who owns so many Super Bowl records for a starting quarterback is 41 and Jared Goff playing in his first is 24. How fitting this Super Bowl was also on February 3rd as the Patriots during the 2001-02 season won their very first ever Super Bowl in Super Bowl 36 against the St. Louis Rams in New Orleans. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48 yard field goal on the game’s final play which gave not only the Patriots their first ever Super Bowl championship, it started the Patriots dynasty they are currently on. Oh and by the way both Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were on that same Patriots team who were 14 point underdogs to the St. Louis Rams and won 20-17.
The Patriots mainly won this game because of the defense, both Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Brian Flores who is now the head coach of the Miami Dolphins called a great game. and deserve so much credit. The Super Bowl MVP went to wide receiver Julian Edelman who caught 10 passes for 141 yards, #11 is so clutch for the Patriots in the post season. He is second behind the legendary Hall of Famer in Jerry Rice in both post season yards and catches. I personally would of given the MVP to either linebacker Dont’a Hightower who had 2 sacks or how about corner back Stephon Gilmore who not only had 5 tackles but 3 passes defensed and a huge interception in the fourth quarter. Patriots punter Ryan Allen also had 5 punts where 3 of them were pinned inside the Rams 20 yard line. When I was watching the game on TV I could definitely tell this was a Patriots home game where they clearly outnumbered the Rams fans. Jared Goff was under pressure all night long as he was sacked four time by the Patriots defense, 2 by Hightower, and one each by Kyle Van Noy and Jonathan Jones. I really believe that Goff and the Rams offense looked either nervous or overwhelmed by the Super Bowl stage. Where was Rams superstar running back Todd Gurley?????? After resting during the last two games of the regular season because he was resting up his knee, Gurley returned in time for the playoffs, in both the NFC Championship game at the Saints and in the Super Bowl Gurley hardly carried the ball, maybe he still wasn’t 100 percent right. Gurley only had 11 touches for 34 yards.
The score at halftime was 3-0 in favor of the Patriots the lowest scoring Super Bowl at the half since Super Bowl 9 where the Pittsburgh Steelers were up 2-0 on the Minnesota Vikings. I found this stat very interesting in both the AFC Championship game at the Kansas City Chiefs and in the Super Bowl against the LA Rams the Patriots both times going into halftime didn’t allow a single point to either team which is remarkable because both the Rams and the Chiefs were the NFL’s two highest scoring teams during the season and remember the Rams beat the Chiefs 54-51 in a thrilling game in LA in November. I bet Bill Belichick saw film of how the Chicago Bears defense was able to get after the Rams offense in that Bears win from December at Soldier Field as the Bears won 15-6. In three Super Bowls that Bill Belichick and the Patriots have gone up against an NFL team that is in the top 5 in total offense his teams are not only 3-0 but they have held the 2001 Rams, 2016 Falcons and now the 2018 Rams to an average of 16 points per game which shows how much of a genius Bill Belichick is.
After the Rams tied the game up at 3 in the third quarter it was time for another Tom Brady game winning drive in a Super Bowl in the fourth quarter where he is so legendary. Brady started the drive at his own 31 yard line with an 18 yard completion to Rob Gronkowski, then hit Edelman for 13 yards followed up by a Brady to Rex Burkhead for 7 yards, then Brady lofted a pass to Gronkowski for 29 yards setting up the Patriots first red zone opportunity for a touchdown to the Rams two yard line as rookie running back Sony Michel complete the drive with a two yard touchdown run for the game’s only touchdown.
On the next possession as the Rams were driving for game’s tying touchdown Jared Goff threw a costly pick to Stephon Gilmore who had an amazing game as I mention earlier and I thought should of been the game’s MVP for holding a team like this in the LA Rams who have a really good offense to a mere 3 points. The Rams join the 1971 Dolphins to only score 3 points in a Super Bowl where they lost 24-3 in Super Bowl 6 to the Dallas Cowboys during the 1971-72 season. On the Patriots next possession as they faced a fourth and one from the Rams 24 yard line they had a big decision to make, do they go for it on fourth and one and if they convert it in all likelihood they burn the clock down to victory or do they kick the field goal and make it a two possession game? They went with the field goal as Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 41 yard field goal to give the Patritos a 13-3 lead. After the Rams drived and missed a field goal the Patriots were able to burn the clock down and celebrate Super Bowl win #6. This was the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever, the second lowest was Super Bowl 7 when the 1972 Miami Dolphins completed their perfect season going 14-0 as they beat the Washington Redskins 14-7.
With this win not only is Tom Brady the oldest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl at the age of 41 but he surpasses NFL Hall of Fame pass rusher Charles Haley who both he and Tom had 5 Super Bowl rings going into this Super Bowl. Charles won 5 Super Bowls, 2 with the 49ers in the late 1980s and 3 with the Cowboys in the early to the mid 1990s. Tom Brady now has more Super Bowls than any player in NFL history which is remarkable. Tom Brady wasn’t at his best but he did finish 21/35 for 262 yards with the one interception which he threw on his first pass of the game but other than that he looked like himself. The Patriots were able to not only rush for 154 yards on 32 carries but they only gave up one sack to the Rams defense who were led by Wade Phillips who is an excellent defensive coordinator in fact he won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago also as a defensive coordinator under Gary Kubiak in Denver as Von Miller and the Broncos defense smothered Cam Newton and the Panthers offense in Super Bowl 50. The Patriots in this entire post season only gave the one sack in the playoffs which is remarkable. They gave up none to the Chargers who were led by Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram two really good young pass rushers and none to the Kansas City Chiefs who were tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers with the most sacks in the NFL during the season.
The Patriots have also tied the Pittsburgh Steelers who now both have 6 Super Bowl wins. The Patriots have won 6 in 18 seasons while the Steelers won 6 in 35 seasons with 4 of them coming during their 1970s dynasty in fact Brady has as many as the Steelers whole organinzation with 6. The Patriots now have the most post season wins at 37 breaking a tie with of course the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tom Brady now has 30 playoffs win which is almost as equal as two NFL seasons. Bill Belichick has as many NFL Championships with two NFL coaching legends in George Halas with the Bears and Curly Lambeau with the Packers even though the Super Bowl didn’t start untill the 1966 season but that’s still very impressive company to be part of. Bill Belichick is the oldest head coach at 66 ever to win a Super Bowl. Tom Brady has 6 Super Bowl game winning drives while both Eli Manning and Terry Bradshaw are tied for second with 2. The Patriots are greatest dynasty I have ever seen in NFL history with the best quarterback of all time in Tom Brady, best head coach of all time in Bill Belichick and best owner of all time in Robert Kraft. All three of these men not only belong in the Pro Football of Fame in Canton Ohio but their should a wing in that museum about this remarkable dynasty that we will never see again in NFL history. The game may of not lived up to the hype in terms of offense but it was a great defensive battle. I give the Rams defense in particular defensive coordinator Wade Philips a lot of credit but the Rams offense let them down that night. When the Patriots are in a Super Bowl under Brady and Belichick it usually has a thrilling finish right to the very end, this one didn’t have that. Both the Rams and the Patriots were a combined 6-26 on third downs. Hate the Patriots dynasty all you want but you should appreciate their greatness.